We aren't kids anymore
by charlotteeelizabeth38
Summary: Harry's missing sister appears to turn everything on its head. Complete with new romances, friendships and enemies, Elspeth Potter(more commonly known as Ella) conceals her past in order to fit in with her brother's life, but can she keep it all in the past. Some adult themes, strong language and sexual content, so suitable for older teens and adults. Starts in GOF goes to post war
1. Chapter 1

**Obliviously, I don't any of the characters apart from my one OC, everything is owned by the amazing JK Rowling and there is no copyright infringment intended. Please review, let me know what you think, just please don't be too harsh, this is the first time I've ever written a story or anything and lastly, enjoy :) x**

Chapter 1

Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way up to the great hall, excitedly chatting about the, soon to come, arrivals of the other schools for the Triwizard tournament.  
"Honestly boys, I don't see quite why you're _so _excited about the Beauxbatons girls. Harry, you've been drooling over Cho since you played her in Quidditch last year and Ron, you've never really been the type to just go up and talk to girls really, have you?" Hermione lectured the boys. Ron rolled his eyes defensively in response.  
"I'll show you, Hermione. Just you watch me talk to them," Ron huffed, setting the other two into hysterical laughter as they reached the gryffindor, to take their seats between Neville and Dean and Fred and George.

Hermione noticed Harry was on edge, not paying much attention to any of the conversations around him.  
"Harry what's wrong?" Hermione enquired.

"It's nothing, honestly" He replied, hoping his friend would shrug it off.  
"You're thinking about your sister aren't you?" She asked nervously. Harry knew he had had a sister whilst his parents were still alive but what had happened to her since, no one really knew. There were rumours that she had been killed on the same night as his parents, and that she had been sent away to a foreign country shortly after their parent's death for many speculated reasons, despite being merely 18 months older than her brother . Some said it was because she was said to possess an unusual power, one that would be dangerous to be left in the hands of muggles. Other's said it was because she was never really the Potter's child. Harry had never known what to believe but he had come to the conclusion that she must be dead otherwise he would know.  
"I know she's probably dead 'mione but I just can't stop myself from wondering whether she really did get sent to a foreign country and now she might be coming to Hogwarts."

"Harry, don't torture yourself with false fantasies. You said yourself she's probably dead, now lets just leave it at that." She said matter-of-factly, giving her friend's hand a quick squeeze before flashing him a reassuring smile.

"But if she _is _alive, wherever she is, she's the only family I have left," But hermione just sent him a sympathetic look before looking away.

As promised, Dumbledore introduced the guest school to the rest of the school, as they entered. First the Beauxbaton girls entered, entrancing almost every boy in the school. Hermione look one look around her to see the looks on the boy's faces around her and rolled her eyes. Next entered the young men of Durmstrang, striding through the centre of the hall, catching the breath of all the spectators. They were closely followed by a man whom Harry knew to be Igor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Durmstrang, with Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Quidditch player, to his left, and a tall, slim girl to his right. The girl had dark wavy hair that went just past her shoulders, with natural light brown and dark blonde highlights. Harry shot Hermione a hopeful look just for her to shake her head in distaste at him optimism.

After the usual notices and announcements, the feast began. Midway through the feast, whilst the group were laughing and chatting over the marvelous selection of chicken wings, roast potatoes and giant yorkshire puddings, the young girl who had been stood next to Karkaroff walked over and cleared her throat. Everyone looked up or swung round to see the new arrival. Up close, the girl was very pretty. She had dark, long eyelashes and dazzling green eyes.  
"And how can I help you!" Fred Weasley oggled at the new arrival in his usual flirtatious manner. She simply lightly play smacked him over the back of the head, laughing before turning to look at Harry.  
"You're Harry Potter, right?" She enquired. Harry nodded uncertainly, curious of what she wanted. "Might I be able to possibly have a word?" He nodded once again, speechless. "Alone" she added bluntly, scanning the curious faces of the Gryffindor table.  
"Yeah, sure. Sorry" Harry replied, snapping out of his trance.

The pair walked just outside of the hall where they turned to face each other.  
"I'm sorry but I don't think I caught your name" Harry hinted politely  
"Sorry, I'm Elspeth. Elspeth Potter, but everyone just calls me Ella" She rushed quickly.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
Harry stood staring at the girl. Could she possibly be telling the truth? Could she _really _be his sister?  
"look I'm so sorry I never tried to contact you. It's just, Bulgaria's so far away and I spent last year on the run but then Igor found me and enrolled me at Durmstrang, realising I obviously wasn't happy at Beauxbatons so you see I just haven't had time, but I'm here now and that's all that matters, right?" Ella gushed, trying to make up for her brother's silence.  
"You're my sister?" He asked, still unable to comprehend what he had just been told. She nodded before Harry repeated himself. She nodded again. Finally he let out a gasp of a combination of shock and joy before flinging his arms around his new found relative, hugging her tightly.  
"I can't believe it! I actually have a family! I mean I have Sirius but he's not actually related'  
"Who's Sirius? Ella asked, finally being released from her brother's hug.  
"My godfather, he's actually in hiding at the minute because he escaped from azkaban last year, which makes him sound really bad, but it wasn't him, he was framed. And now I will have scared you off because I sound like a lunatic because I can't stop speaking but I've got a sister. Oh my god I really am so sorry, I'm not normally like this" Harry blurted out frantically.  
"Harry" Ella tried to stop her brother's ramblings, "Harry!" he stopped abruptly and look sheepish before muttering something about being sorry. " It's fine, honestly. I've just landed this huge news on you. Do you want to go back inside?" She added, gesturing towards the hall where the feast was still continuing and with that the pair returned to their meals.

Harry was silent through the rest of the feast, still attempting to comprehend what had just happened. After the meal was over, he sat curled up with his head on his knees in front of the fire in the packed Gryffindor common room, which was still buzzing about the arrival of the foreign schools.  
"So Harry, what did the hot foreign girl want?" Asked George plonking himself next to Harry.  
"Yeah Harry, what did she want?" George mimicked, sitting the other side of the boy.

"You guys think she's hot?!" He exclaimed before shaking his head and getting to the point. "firstly she's not foreign at all it turns out, and she just wanted to let me know she's the sister I wasn't sure if I even had or had any clue where she was."He stated matter-of-factly.

"Oh...errr...right. Well I suppose, congrats kid," Fred patted his younger brother's friend on the back.  
"Are you being serious Harry?!" Hermione asked, startled. Harry gave her a look to signify it was no joking matter. "Oh sorry, I was just certain that she must have died. What are you going to do?"  
"I don't know, I suppose, I at least have this year to get to know her now." 

The group nodded in agreement before Fred Weasley broke the silence,  
"Well, at least you'll be able to introduce now if you know what I mean" He teased, winking at the younger boy. Harry replied with a playful punch to the arm of the twin.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After the feast, Ella had quickly made her way back to the ship, not waiting for the rest of her school mates. Just before she at the ship, she felt someone grab ahold of her arm.  
"Krum" She swung round, and released a sigh of relief, "you gave me a fright."  
"Sorry, I just wanted to know how it went with your brother," She shot him a confused look.  
"I saw you talking to him, and I remember you told me zat you had a brother in England zat you didn't know and zen I heard zomeone call the boy you were talking to "'Arry Potter'" She just nodded pensively in response.  
"Krum, to bed. I need a word with Miss Potter," A new voice spoke coldly behind Ella, sending shivers down her back.

"What is it Igor?" She swung round to come face to face with her headmaster.  
"Don't take that tone with my Elspeth," He snapped viciously. "I saw you talking to your brother. I strictly FORBID you from speaking to him!"  
"But he's the only family I have, you can't blame me for wanting to get to know him." She protested.  
"You will do no such thing. If I see you as much as look at him again, I will accompany you everywhere you go. There's to be no fraternizing with the competition, and especially not your brother! First you're just talking to him, next you are jeopardizing our schools chance of victory because you're 'just trying to help'" He spat, mimicking the young girl.  
"But.." She started.  
"But nothing," He snarled, "We must win, which is why you must be our school's champion, your power is legendary after all, that's why you got sent to the European magical institute for young orphans when your parents died."  
"But I can't even enter, I'm not even quite 16 yet, never mind 17."  
"Then find a way." And with that he moved closer to the young girl and outstretched a hand to stroke her cheek.  
"I told that _that _all finished in summer" Ella declared, furiously slapping the mans hand away.  
"Careful, you're starting to sound ungrateful. You know how much fun we had, why not let the fun continue?" He chuckled maliciously at the look of discomfort and dread in the girl's eyes as he once again moved closer, this time taking a hold of her delicate wrist "Now, are you coming to bed?" he rhetorically asked before dropping his grip and striding off towards the ship, slowly followed by Ella.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Ella had tossed and turned all night next to Igor, trying to sleep. As she saw the sun start to rise out the window she got up, wrapped a big granny cardigan around her shoulders, over her old baggy top and a loose fitting pair of tracksuit bottoms.

She walked around the edge of the lake, thinking of her current situation. She knew she would either have to chose her brother or her headmaster. On one hand, Harry was family and Igor was a controlling manipulator, yet she was so grateful towards him and what he had done for her last May. He didn't have to take her into his personal house and provide food, clothes and shelter for her after she had spent the most part of the previous academic year homeless, but he did, and for that she could never thank him enough. For all she knew, Harry could be horrible and just generally a person she would not want to get to know under other circumstances. However, she felt she had to get to know him, if for no other reason than to honor her deceased parents.

Suddenly, she hit something hard and stumbled backwards before a large sturdy hand grabbed her, stopping her from falling. Ella looked up from her feet to see the tall ginger boy who had been sat near her brother the previous night at dinner.  
"I'm so sorry, I didn't see you," Fred Weasley apologised, the tops of his ears turning a light crimson.  
"no it's fine, I wasn't looking either," She offered him an apologetic smile.  
"Guessing, you can't sleep either?" He asked, sitting down on the damp lakeside morning grass..  
"No, there's just so much going on at the minute. My head's too full to sleep" She flopped down, next to the handsome boy.  
"I'm Fred Weasley, by the way" He offered her a polite hand which she shook, "And you're Harry Potter's long lost sister, if I'm not mistaken" He teased.  
"Yeah, I'm Elspeth Potter, but honestly, I only ever get called Ella,"She sighed. She felt relaxed in the boy's presence without any reason. It frightened her. She had grown up, not fully trusting anyone; always looking out for herself before anyone else. She hoped this would change this year, but she had promised herself not to get her hopes up.  
"You don't much look like him if I'm being honest, except the eyes. I thought his were quite shockingly green but yours are even more so," He joked, prodding her arm.

"I take a lot after my mother, we look very similar. That's where Harry gets his eyes from I suppose. Look," She pulled a locket from around her neck and opened it. Inside was a small piece of parchment or something folded up very small. As she unfolded it, it became clear that it was as photograph. The photo was of a laughing man who looked a lot like Harry but much older, holding a young child in one arm and hugging a beautiful woman who also wore a huge smile with his other.  
"That's my mother and father," She handed the photo over to the boy, "and that baby's me. If you look closely you can see my mother, Lily, is actually pregnant with Harry."

"Wow, I see what you mean. At first glance, I thought you were the woman in the picture. Until I saw the hair of course, you must inherit your dad's messy mop hair, much like Harry," Ella laughed, lightly shoving the boy.  
"You haven't even given me a chance to brush it yet, of course it's going to be messy," She protested humorously.

"You planning to enter this tournament then?" Fred enquired.  
"I can't, I'm only 15, 16 in a couple of months. You?"  
"Not allowed I'm 16, until the 1st of April that is," He joked.  
"April fools baby, no wonder you're such a joker," He teased him, playfully punching the boy in his arm, much like her brother had the night before.  
"If you don't mind me asking, why are you here then. Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled you're here," He teased, "but isn't it only meant to be possible champions that came?"

"I don't know, maybe to keep an eye on me after I went on a runner for 8 months last year from Beauxbatons." They both sat in comfortable silence for a while, watching the sun rise.  
"Fancy telling me what was filling your mind so much that you couldn't sleep, then?"  
"I can't really, I just need to decide where my loyalties lie and weigh up my options, and which one will hurt the least people." She confessed.  
"Oh, like what?" Fred asked, sounding worried. However the way she had immediately trusted him and told her what was on her mind without thinking scared her.  
"I'm sorry, I need to go" She quickly stood up, frantically brushing the loose grass off her trousers and without looking back she darted back to the ship, fearful of her headmaster's wrath if he had woken to find her gone. 


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5  
After Ella had gone back to the headmaster's room in the ship to find it deserted she decided it would be best to keep out of his way for the rest of the day and decided to try and talk to her brother in a less public way. Just before lunch, she caught sight of her brother and ran to catch up with him. He turned round to her call.  
"Oh hey!" He greeted her, "How are you?"  
"Oh I'm alright thanks," She beamed at her brother's friendly nature, "I was just wondering whether you would want to go for a wander after lunch? You know just to have a chat and get to know one another, I feel as though we owe it to our parents," she paused, "but of course if you don't want to thats fine by me."  
"Of course I do, see you by the entrance after lunch," He said before walking to catch up with his friends. Ella looked up, not being able to stop the grin she now wore from being plastered across her face, when she caught of eye of the boy she had met earlier that morning. He sent her a quick wink and said something to his twin before walking towards the girl. However, a few moments later she felt a hand seize her upper arm and drag her round the corner, to a deserted part of the corridor.

"Where were you this morning?" Karkaroff demanded.  
"I just went for a walk," She murmured, "...honestly! I couldn't sleep," She added at her headmaster's quizzical and scornful look.

"Very well, you just worried me," He hissed, pulling her closer until she could feel his hot harsh breath on her face. "You don't want me to stressing now, do you? You know what happens when I get stressed," He growled mockingly, bearing a dirty grin. He leant into her, ready to catch her lips in his once again.  
"I said last night was going to be the last time,' Ella hissed, shoving the man off of her.  
"And I thought, _I _was the one who called the shots around here," He retaliated.  
"No, not this time. I'm being serious, I want to sleep in my own room," She snarled, "on. my. own." Her voice became soft and dangerous as her temper rose. Karkaroff rose his hand before smacking the girl across the face.  
"Don't even think of speaking to _me _like that again," He growled in her ear, "you can have tonight in your own room to give you chance to...cool off," He looked the girl up and down laughing at her outburst, "but tomorrow I expect you at my door at 11 o'clock sharp or there will be serious consequences, understand?" The girl nodded, his face barely an inch from her own. And with that the headmaster turned on his heel and walked in the opposite direction. Ella looked up to see a tall, handsome ginger, standing at the corner wearing a mixture of a shocked and disgusted expression.  
"Fred!" She gasped, hoping he hadn't seen any of that.  
"What the hell was that?"


	6. Chapter 6

"So go on then, what the hell was that?" Fred demanded angrily. He didn't know particularly why he was so angry with the girl, after all he had only just met her. He didn't know whether it was because she was trying to get gain the trust of his little brother's best friend who had had more than his fair share of hurt or because he was sort of jealous at the idea of her being with someone else.  
"Look Fred, I don't know how much of that you heard," Ella started.  
"Enough." He said bluntly waiting for an explanation.  
"It's complicated, it's...it's..."She stammered, trying to find the right words.  
"It's obviously the reason he brought you here, so he can still get laid while he's over here. So tell me, is that feisty resistance thing you were doing back there all part of the game to make him 'want' you, or is it..."  
"IT'S NOTHING LIKE THAT YOU IGNORANT GIT!" Ella yelled, cutting him off mid-sentence.  
"Well tell me what it is like then," Fred said softer, taken aback by the previously sweet, placid girl's outburst.  
"I told you this morning that I used to go to Beauxbatons but I hated it. I just couldn't stand being there anymore, and being the jumped up 13 year old I was, a month into the first term last year, I ran away." She started.  
"And what does this have to do with..."  
"Shut up and listen," She cut him off once again, "As I was saying, I went on the run but within a month or so I started to be quickly running out of money with the money I inherited still in Gringotts in this country. I basically ended up living on the streets, spending any money I could my hands on by doing jobs here and there on food. One day in January, when I was living around the Germany Poland border area, I met Igor..sorry, Professor Karkaroff, outside a bar. He offered to buy me a warm drink and meal and after some talking I told him my situation and he offered me some money which I took and the minute he turned his back, I ran again, this time ending up getting on a muggle train to Denmark where I managed to find some work to keep me going. Around April time, things started to go downhill...a lot. Long story short I got involved with drugs and ended up on the street again and got into various run-ins with the muggle police."  
"I had no idea," Fred Started.  
"You wouldn't have, that's why I'm trying to explain. After about a month of living on the streets, I met Igor again. He said he recognised me straight away despite looking a hell of a lot worse than I had when I previously met him a few months previously because of my eyes. He invited me into his apartment in the city and offered me a meal and a bed for the night. Once he had learnt the state which I was in, he insisted I stayed in his apartment until I got back on my feet, even when he had to go back to work. He provided all my clothes and food and when I eventually told him of my age and flee from Beauxbatons, he offered to enroll me at his school. You will never probably how grateful I was to him. How much I felt I owed him. Then one night at the start of summer he suggested a way in which I could pay him back," She paused.  
"I don't understand," Fred asked looking troubled.  
"He...errr...he basically asked me for sex, Fred," She paused waiting for his reaction but all he could manage was to open his mouth a couple of times as if to say something, but both times it shut when it found no words were able to come out. "It kind of went on all summer, but when it came to the start of term, I made him promise it would stop. After all, he's my teacher now and I wanted a fresh start. However, he's kept an overly close eye on me since the minute we boarded the ship to come here. And last night...well he wasn't in the best of moods and he wanted me to go to bed with him," Fred raised his eyebrows disapprovingly at her, "you don't know what he's like. Yes he was very kind and generous to me, and for which I am eternally thankful but he's not a man to argue with when he's in a bad mood and I saw that a few times over summer as well. Not towards me! Today's to first time he's laid a hand on me but I've seen how he can make people pay for disobeying him."  
"I think you need to tell Harry about this," Fred told her, "at least some of it. If you open up to him, it will allow him to trust you more."  
"I'm sure he be thrilled to find out his sister that's just appeared out of no where was a washed up, junky tramp less than a year ago," She sneered.  
"He's a good kid, he'll understand," Fred rested a reassuring hand on her shoulder, "and you should hear some of the havoc he's caused here since he joined."  
"Oi, Freddie!" The boy's twin came waltzing around the corner, smirking when he saw his brother with a girl. "Sorry if I just ruined your came mate, but we need to go work on our aging potion,"  
"Don't worry, Georgie. We were just talking. This is Ella, Harry's new sister," He introduced her.  
Ella offered her hand as a greeting but instead George just ruffled her hair laughing.  
"Eee, look she could teach us some manners as well, Mum would be proud if you brought her home," George teased his brother and Ella, reaching to fake punch Ella's arm.  
"Are you trying to get your arm taken off?" She chuckled, joking drawing her wand.  
"Careful mate, Harry's temper must be a genetic thing because it seems to run in the family," Fred warned his brother, sending a wink to the girl now standing opposite his brother and himself. After saying their goodbyes, the twins departed, leaving Elspeth awestruck about how easily she had told this boy that she had known for less than a day her history that she had tried so desperately to hide at her school.


	7. Chapter 7

The time had come for the revealing of the 3 champions. Ella had been meeting up with Harry everyday, much to Karkaroff's annoyance. She hadn't really spoken to Fred or George since she told Fred about the previous year, apart from odd words in passing. She assumed it had scared the boy off, which saddened her as she had allowed herself to trust the him in telling him things she had kept secret from even her best friend at Durmstrang, Viktor Krum. Ella had also taken Fred's advice in telling Harry about what Karkaroff had done for her and what it had lead to. Granted, Harry wasn't overly pleased about the way Igor imposed himself on his sister but it hadn't put him off. Both siblings were just pleased to finally have some family.

Everyone filed into the great hall, in their school groups. The air was thick with excitement and anticipation. Ella felt someone take a hold of her hand, giving it a quick squeeze before dropping it again.

"Viktor?" She looked up. He gave her a reassuring yet oddly guilty smile in response. "You did it didn't you?!" She exclaimed. "You put your name in that bloody goblet!"  
"Look, Ella..." He started apologetically.  
"Don't. I thought I told you not to put yourself in for this! You've already got all the money and glory one person could ever need, you're the best seeker in the world for fuck sake!"  
"Ella..."  
"This tournament is dangerous and down right barbaric at times. Can't you see? And what if you get picked? I can't watch one of my closest friends get himself killed!"  
"Ella!" He snapped, putting an abrupt end to the girls rant. "Karkaroff is making me, he vants us to vin."  
"Karkaroff?!" She scoffed. "What's he got on you?"

"I can't tell you,"  
"Why on earth not! I thought we were meant to be best friends, you know you can tell me anything,"

"What, just like you've told me about whatever Karkaroff has over you. I'm not stupid, I know 'e has zomething over you and he's using it to get you to do god knows what. I've zeen you skulking off to his cabin late at night. I 'eard ze way 'e talked to you after 'e dismissed me." Viktor finished. With that, the girl dropped the subject and the pair took their seats in silence.

The champions were drawn one by one. Cedric Diggory had been chosen to represent Hogwarts, Fleur Delacour for Beauxbatons and Viktor for Durmstrang. Ella's heart had dropped when she had heard her bestfriend's name come out the goblet but also partially relieved that it hadn't been hers. She had been sure Karkaroff had been up to something, trying desperately to get her name in that goblet; after all, her powers were renowned.

Just as the feast was about to kick off once more and chatting began to steadily rise, the goblet once again started spitting hissing before throwing a fourth and final piece of paper. The hall went silent.  
"Potter," Dumbledore mumbled in disbelief, "Potter!" He raised his voice much louder, causing many gasps among both students and staff. 

Ella glanced nervously at her brother who mirrored her terrified expression.  
"For heavens sake Dumbledore, order the child to come out!" Barty Crouch ordered the headmaster impatiently.  
"The problem is though, Barty, is that I do not know which student it should be," Dumbledore explained in an eerily calm distress, "you see, Mr Potter's sister has joined up from Durmstrang this year," This caused another round of gasps from almost the entire hall aside from those who already knew.

"Very well then," Barty muttered thoughtfully, "Call them both out and we shall decide later."

This time it was Harry's turn to look over at his sibling. Her face echoed how he felt, which was a mixture shock and sheer terror. Catching each other's eye, they slowly stood up and made their way to the front of the hall.


	8. Chapter 8

"Harry!" Ella hissed under her breath as the champions were ushered through to the next room, "Do not tell me you put your name in the goblet of fire!" Ella snapped.

"Of course I didn't, I've had enough of danger and drama at this school. I assumed it was meant to be you,"

The five champions were left to talk amongst themselves whilst the official judges, in addition to Barty Crouch Sr, discussed what to do about the situation at hand, in private. The siblings received cold stares the other champions. Krum marched over to the pair, staring threateningly my brother either," She retorted angrily. Just then, the door was swung in and the judges and teachers came filing b-lining straight for Harry, Igor grabbing his student, marching her with them, on his way.

"Did either of you enter your name in the Goblet of Fire?" Dumbledore asked urgently.

"No

professor," Harry stammered whilst his sister nodded along.

" Did you ask one of the older students to so for you?" He snapped out his next question.  
"No," Both students replied in unison.  
"Very well," He said, now turning to the other adults, "Then how in the devil's name did they get drawn out? Whoever has entered you into this contest is not your friend," He said, once again turning back to the pair.

"But professor," Professor Snape interrupted, "how do we even know student was meant to be entered?"  
"Good point Severus, Barty?" The headmaster asked, turning to the official for his advice.

"There is nothing for us to do, what comes out the Goblet is final, and seen as the goblet was unspecified in this case, both Potters must compete...separately."  
"Thank heavens it wasn't the name 'weasely' that came out of the cup then, or we wouldn't be able to fit all the champions in one room," Professor Snape sneered.

"But sirs," Ella pleaded, ignoring Snape's snide comment, "Harry is only 14, he can't _possibly _ compete! The others all have 3 years on him,"

"I'm sorry Elspeth,I feel the same way, but Barty's word is final." Professor Mcgonagall tried to calm the young distressed girl.

Once the briefing was over of what was to come for the now _five _champions, each individual involved went off to bed. Igor had a hand on one of each of his champions shoulders, escorting them back to the ship. Once they were on board the ship the Headmaster began to speak.  
"You both best get some rest but first I need a quick word with Miss Potter. Goodnight Krum," He tried to shake the protective quidditch player off. Ella shot her friend a pleading look, begging him not to leave, but it seemed he still believed she had put her own name in the goblet of fire as he turned on his heel and went to bed. "And as for you, well done tonight. Just make sure you don't embarrass me in the tasks," Igor continued, "And I hope that whole act of trying to stop your brother from having to compete was, in fact, just an act that, for your sake, was purely tactical."

Ella shook her head defiantly, furyous of how the man had absent-mindedly put her brother, her one remaining family member, in danger. "It was not! It is too dangerous for him, he is only a boy," She protested. Igor broke into a big smirk, cackling at her foolish audacity, bearing all his black, rotting teeth.

"Now, I would ask you to bed but I feel you won't really be in the mood tonight," And with that he turned and entered his cabin, leaving Ella stood, silently fuming in the hallway.


	9. Chapter 9

**Thank you for the lovely reviews, I'll try to make my chapters a bit longer, I just like to update as reularly as I can and with GCSE exams coming up I'm not getting quite the time but I'll make the effort just for you guys :p so enjoy, and remember, reviews make the pen flow faster :)  
xoxo Charlotte **

Chapter 9

The weeks were passing quite quickly, everything remaining pretty much the same. Ella was still trying, unsuccessfully, to dodge her headmaster. Harry and herself were growing closer, trying to prepare for the first task together, with the help of Hermione. Ron was still mad at Harry for god knows what and Fred still seemed to avoiding most conversations with Ella.

Ella woke in her bed in the ship with a groan. She looked outside her window to discover it was barely light. Knowing she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep with the anticipation and fear of the first task that day, she got up and went for a walk around the lake. After a while, she heard the sound of footsteps other than her own. She looked up to see a worried looking Fred.

"I think you're starting to stalk me," Ella joked, trying to break the tension. Fred just looked at his feet and mumbled something. "Oh wait, sorry, you would have to talk to me to be stalking me," She snapped, her mood changing instantly. She put her recent mood swings down to stress.

"I'm...err..." Fred stuttered, unable to think of what to say next.

"How about I help you; you don't want to talk to me after you found out about last year and Igor. Fred I'm sorry if it's upset you, I just don't see why it should. I genuinely you and your twin were decent. I thought I might actually have some fun this year."

"Ella, I'm sorry. I haven't been ignoring you because of last year. In fact, I feel really guilty for assuming the worst of you when I overheard you and Igor."

"Then why were you?" She demanded.

"Because," He paused, "because you and Harry are getting on so well and I don't want to mess anything up between you," he stopped.

"What are you talking about Fred?"

"Never mind," and with that the twin turned on his heel and quickly strided off, leaving a very confused and frustrated Ella.

At breakfast, Harry saw his sister sitting alone, white with a look of sheer terror.

"You look about how I feel," Harry sat down opposite her.

"It's you I'm more scared for. Dragons aren't the most pleasant creatures even at the best of times."

"We'll be fine, yeah?"

"Yeah," Ella agreed.

The atmosphere in the champions tent was tense. They were gathered round Ludo Bagman, to reveal the beast of which each competitor would take on. Harry pulled out a hungarian horntail from the bag.

"Surely you can't let the youngest champion take on what is considered to be the most dangerous dragon ?!" Ella gasped before receiving a sharp elbow in the ribs from Karkaroff to silence her. She shook her head before stretching a trembling hand into the bag. There was only one dragon left. Gripping her fingers tight around it, she gasped she felt a pair of sharp jaws sink into her finger. She pulled it out quickly before throwing it at Karkaroff who was now stood over her.

"The Peruvian Vipertooth," Igor said letting out a low whistle.

"A dragon with a highly venomous bite," Dumbledore finished, looking greatly concerned.

"Right, good luck to all champions you will go according to the number hanging around your model dragon's neck. Meaning, Miss Potter, you will be going last."

Harry and Ella sat together, holding hands whilst the other champions took on their dragons one by one. Soon it was time for Harry's turn.  
"Promise me you'll be careful,"She said, tightly wrapping her arms around her brother.

"I promise," He replied before walking out of the tent, blanking everything out of his mind.

Elated by the positive commentary of Harry's task, Ella momentarily forgot her fear and angst. The whistle sounded, signalling for her to go out into the arena. The arena was full of shouting, cheering and taunting. All the sounds blurred into one big buzz. She looked around the arena and soon spotted the large creature. Despite being one of the smallest breeds of dragon the Vipertooth was quick, agile and intelligent, along with being one of the most vicious breeds known to wizards and witches a like. All of a sudden a loud bang wen of behind her. She snapped round to see what was the cause of the noise. Whilst she had her back turned, the dragon dived at the intruder, sending her flying clean through the air, leaving a large gash in her side where the creature's tail had collided with her, causing her the spectators to gasp. Ella groaned in pain, clutching her wand in one hand and her side with the other. The Dragon rose into the air, ready to attack the intruder once more.

"AVIS!" Ella yelled, pointing her wand towards the Dragon's head before ducking behind a large bolder. A large swarm of birds set to circling the dragon's head frantically, distracting the Dragon's attention from her planned attack. Ella ran towards the group of eggs only for the Dragon to hear her footsteps and come storming towards her once again. Ella sent a jet of light from her wand causing a load crash and bang in the opposite direction, stopping the Dragon in it's path. The Vipertooth headed to the location of the bang, in attempt to find the source of the disruption. Another loud crash was sounded after a flick of Ella's wand. Bang Bang Bang! Ella was sending jets of light randomly in any direction away from her. Taking the opportunity of the Dragon on a hunt in the wrong direction, Ella darted forward to scoop up the golden egg in her non wand hand. The crowd erupted into a wild applause from what had been a very tense, still silence.

With the adrenaline and fear dying down, Ella was all of a sudden, much more aware of the agonising pain in her side. Her legs went weak and began to tremble. The arena around her became blurry. She was only partially aware of the Dragon being loaded back into it's cage before her legs gave way and everything went black.


	10. Chapter 10

**Took on board some of your comments, so here's my longest chapter yet :p so enjoy, and keep remembering to tell me what you think:) **

**xoxo Charlotte**

Chapter 10

"Ella!" She heard the fuzzy voice of her brother as he came charging into the arena whilst she was coming round.

"It's alright Mr Potter, we're taking your sister to the hospital tent now, where you can visit her. However if you don't mind we have to ask you to leave this arena," Dumbledore politely requested.

By the time Harry had made his way through the crowds of students to the hospital tent, Ella was sat up with a heavily bandaged waist.

"There you are, Mr Potter!" Madame Pomfrey exclaimed in exasperation, "I thought I told you to stay in your bed,"

"But I couldn't she's my sister," He tried to explain, the adrenaline still pumping round his body.

"I'm fine, Harry, just hurts a little that's all," Ella tried to sooth her brother without much success. Ella looked up at the sound of the tent opening rustling to see the whole Weasley clan who were still at Hogwarts plus Hermione, entering. Their concerned faces all relaxed a little when they saw their friend's sister was sat up and talking. Ella shot a quick smile at Fred, which instantly made his ears turn the same shade as his hair. Oddly, the bandage around her waist exemplified the girl's slim frame with curves in all the right place, making Fred blush even more.

"How you feeling?" Fred asked walking over to Ella's side whilst the others were talking to Harry.

"I'll be fine, this should heal quite quickly with Madame Pomfrey's help," Ella smiled back, happy that the boy was no longer giving her the cold shoulder.

"Hey you!" George bounced over to his twin's side, beaming widely at the younger girl, "We're having a party in Gryffindor common room tonight, if you're game?"

"I'm game but how am I meant to get in?"

"We'll send your brother for you at 8 if you wait in the entrance, while we organise the booze," Fred winked, as his twin was wondering off to the rest of the group.  
"Won't he mind?" Ella questioned doubtfully.

"Are you kidding?! You're all we ever hear about anymore," Fred joked, "It's all: Ella this and Ella that. I'm almost sick of hearing your name," Fred teased. Ella play smacked his arm, unsuccessfully trying to stop herself from bursting out laughing.

"I hope you're going to get very drunk tonight," Ella joked.

"Of course I am! Is there any other way to celebrate," Fred replied with another wink.

The chatter of the tent abruptly died at the entry of another body. Ella looked up, heart sinking, to see her headmaster walking towards her, with a look of disgust and distaste on his face.

"Could everyone that is _not _a champion or injured please exit the tent as I would like to speak to my student and actually be able to hear what I am trying to say," Igor snapped unpleasantly. "Thank you," He said sarcastically as the visitors exchanged curious looks and exited the tent without speaking a word. "Now you," He continued, turning to Ella, "If it wasn't enough of an embarrassment for you to get so easily distracted in the ring like that-showing complete and utter weakness and vulnerability-I come in here to find you talking to one of those blood traitors," He spat.

"Someone tried to distract me!" Ella protested, "I think someone wanted me to get hurt. And as far as Fred Weasley, he was just asking how I was and I think it will do you well to remember that me, your precious school's 'secret weapon'," She spat mockingly, "is, after all, only a lowly half blood, when you start banging on about your precious pure blood and the filthy mudbloods and blood traitors."

"I knew letting you get to know your brother was a terrible idea," Karkaroff growled under his breath, inches away from the girl's ear, "It's given you ideas above your station. You need to remember that you're still a silly, ittle 15 year old slut, who would still be one the streets if it wasn't for me." He finished before turning and striding out of the tent.

Ella stood in the entrance hall waiting for her brother. Sure enough, he came, even if his reputation for always being a few minutes late for everything didn't fail him.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Harry yelled as he came charging towards her.

"You're pissed already aren't you?" Ella laughed at the sight of a slightly out of it Harry Potter.

"I'm not, I promise," Harry pleaded. She raised her eyebrow with a chuckle, "Ok, maybe I am a bit, but only a bit,"

"Okay, come on then little wreck head. As long as you can still remember the way and the password." The siblings walked to the common room together, laughing and talking. Harry stopped before entering the portrait hole.

"I know I'm slightly drunk, but in all honesty; I'm really glad you found me Ella. It feels like I've always known you. I don't want this year to end, I just wish you could stay here," Harry confessed soppily.

"Hahaha! Would love to see Karkaroff's face if I told him I was transferring to here," She laughed sourly, "But I'm glad I found you too Harry," She smiled before gesturing towards to common room, "now should we go in so I can get pissed as well," She teased, following her brother through the portrait hole.

Inside the common room, the party had already well and truly kicked off. Fred and George had done a good job. A lot of students who looked about Harry's age also looked as if they'd already had too much to drink. Ella put this down to their age and their probable lack of experience in the pass time. Suddenly, she felt someone pounce on her from behind, resting a large, sturdy hand on her shoulder.

"Oi! We thought you weren't gonna show," Fred joked.

"Would have helped if you hadn't sent me an escort that wasn't already hammered," She said, laughing when she remember the randomness of her brother's drunken ramblings on the way there.

"Bloody hell, he's not pissed already is he?!" George appeared at her other shoulder. Ella nodded, chuckling along to herself.

"Lightweight," They said together, sending the three of them into hysterics.

About an hour- and several drinks- later a rather drunk Hermione and Ginny came over to Ella, where she was sat on one of the sofas in front of the fire, talking to an equally pissed Ron and Harry.

"Come Ella, come and dance with us!" Ginny pleaded.

"Come on, we haven't seen you dance all night," Hermione added when the girl hesitated.

"Oh alright then," She laughed, stumbling when she got up. Within a few songs, Ella had gotten into the whole dancing thing, dancing with half of the gryffindor house; including a little first year boy who had been adamant he wasn't tired and didn't want to go to bed and miss the fun.

"I think you should go and dance over there," Ginny teased the older girl, pointing over to a table top in the centre of the room.

"A no no no no," Ella laughed.

"Oh go on, don't tell me you have no balls," Ginny wound her up, "I always thought you were the type to have fun and let your hair down,"

"You know what then Gin; I'm going to fucking do it then," She laughed, throwing her head around a bit, purposely flicking her hair into the young wind up merchant's face. Sure enough, Ella got up onto table, kicking off the empty bottles and glasses, and began to dance, progressively flirtatiously. Soon, all the eyes in the room were on her and everybody was clapping and cheering. When it came to the end of the song, Ella took a mock bow as everyone cheered even louder. Suddenly she felt a hand grab her wrist, pulling her off of the table and onto a pair of lips. A round of wolf whistles broke out around the room. She pulled away to find out who she was actually kissing. Her stomach did a somersault when she saw the tall ginger mop head that was Fred Weasley peering down at her with a huge grin on his face. She placed a hand either side of his head and pulled his face back down to hers and caught his lips with hers. As the kiss deepened, laughing and cheering broke out around the room. They broke the kiss, both laughing at the reaction of the crowd. Fred bent down and whispered in her ear.

"Come on, let's go outside,"


	11. Chapter 11

**Heyy, sorry this will be my only post for the weekend as I'm going on my Duke of Edinburgh overnight expedition all weekend (and it's forecast for torrential rain and thunder storms, eeeekk) but keep reading and reviewing :)**

**xoxo Charlotte**

Chapter 11

Fred ducked through the portrait hole, with Ella following, holding his hand. As soon as they rounded the corner, and there was no other students in sight, Fred pressed Ella against the wall and leant in to kiss her. The kiss started off slow and careful. Ella ran her hands through his long ginger hair. As the kiss deepened, the pace also began to increase, any caution quickly fading. She moaned softly into his mouth as he ran his hands over her voluptuous figure. He parted their lips and placed soft kisses down her neck, making Ella feel as though her knees were about to buckle, before returning to her lips to kiss her passionately again.

"Go on lad!" Ella and Fred looked up to see George leaning on the wall, a girl Ella recognised to be Alicia Spinnet by side, wearing a huge devilish grin. "Oh, sorry. Don't let us interrupt," George said, walking away with Alicia in tow, knowing full well that that was exactly what he had just done.

"Sorry about that," Fred laughed before resuming his position, leaning over the girl and went to kiss her again.

"We should probably go back inside," Ella hesitated, putting two fingers to the boys lips.

"I suppose," He grumbled, backing off.

"I'm sorry, I just feel bad leaving all those drunken kids in there," She joked, prodding Fred in his broad, hard chest.

Back in the common room, things were starting to die down. A lot of the students were making their way up to bed if they weren't already there, whilst others were either dancing calmly to the now slower and quieter music, off around the school finding a 'quiet' place with someone they had hooked up with or even throwing up out of the window.

"Tell me if you see Harry anywhere," Ella said, turning to Fred.

"I will," He hesitated, "Where you sleeping tonight?" Fred asked, glancing at his watch. "Karkaroff will kill you if he sees you coming back this late,"

"What time is it like?" Ella asked

"11:30," Fred replied.

"Shit! Is it really? How the hell did it get that late?!" She demanded.

"Maybe it was all those people you decided you needed to dance with," Fred said, creasing up laughing at the memory of the girl twirling the 12 year old boy round.

"Fuck!" She cursed again before collapsing on the sofa in front of the fire, "Igor was expecting me at his room half an hour ago!" She moaned, the room spinning increasingly so.

"You know what you need to do?" Fred plonked himself down next to her, the alcohol obviously still taking effect on him also, "You need to tell the wanker to piss off and leave you alone,"

"Bahahaha!" Ella burst out laughing, "I think he would die with shock! You know what, Fred?"

"What?" He replied, still chuckling himself at the thought of the stern, vicious headmaster's face if his prize possession told him where to stick it.

"I think I might. I mean, how long do I really need to be grateful for?"

"Exactly!" Fred shouted, causing the girl to laugh.

"I still can't get around him seeing me get back to the ship this late," She complained.

"Sleep in here,?"

"What on the floor?" She laughed, "I think I'll take the wrath of Igor, my side still hurts too much to crash anywhere,"

"Not the floor idiot," Fred replied, "My room!" Ella shot him a quizzical look, raising her eyebrows. "Noooo, not in _that _way," He tried to recover his proposition, "I know exactly where George is taking Alicia and I very much doubt they'll be back tonight if you know what I mean," Fred shot the girl a wink, causing her to laugh before letting out a deep sigh and resting her head on his shoulder. "You may as well have George's bed, lee won't mind you sharing a room with us. That's if he's even around, probably hooked up with someone,"

"Thanks Fred," Ella said, sitting up so she was able to kiss the boy's cheek, "Game for a few more dances before bed?"

"Always game," Fred replied.

"Bloody hell Fred, you don't waste any time in replacing me, do you?" George came bursting into the room, bright and early as if he hadn't had a drop of alcohol the night before.

"Join me and be quiet or shut up and get out," Ella groaned, rolling over, clutching her pillow over her head to try and soothe her banging head.

"That's my decision made for me then," George bounced over to his bed, kicking off his shoes and about to climb in next to the girl.

"You would be so lucky, top to tail idiot," Ella snapped. She really was never a morning person. With a groan about how girls ruled him even in his own bed, George moved to the bottom of the bed and clambered in.

"How on earth are you so fresh after being pissed last night?" Lee questioned, also sounding much more groggy and hungover than his friend.

"Drunken sex mate, does wonders," George winked at his brother and his friend before receiving a sharp kick from his current bed occupant. "OW!" he exclaimed.

"Sorry, I have strong reflexes to arse holes," Ella joked before rolling over, making sure to put her feet right in George's face.

"Bloody brilliant!"

At breakfast, the whole Gryffindor house that was above the age of 14, looked like they wanted to vomit into their breakfast bowls. Ella had chosen to sit between her brother and Fred; who refused to leave her side until Karkaroff had confronted her about where she had been the previous night. He claimed he couldn't risk the 'dickhead' slapping her again.

Fred had come to care quite dearly for Harry's older sister. She understood him and made him laugh at the same time. His heart melted every time she smiled at him and he couldn't help but notice the way her hair was shifting from it's natural summery blonde highlights, to a colour much similar to Harry's but with still with a tint of her mother's ginger. Fred realised this was probably the first time he had ever taken any notice of a change in a girl's hairstyle. Even when he had dated Angelina the previous year, he could never tell if she did something different with her hair- including the time when she had got it cut from her past her boobs to above her shoulders.

Soon, Fred noticed Karkaroff striding down the hall towards them. He must have spotted his star pupil and figured out where she had been all night.

"Look!" Fred nudged Ella in a warning.

"Shit," She muttered under her breath, "Thanks," She shot him a warm smile.

"If he pulls you out to talk to you 'privately', I'll follow you to make sure he doesn't lose his temper, don't worry," Fred reassured her, placing his hand over hers that was resting on the table, giving it a quick squeeze before removing it in case of the girl's, already angered, headmaster seeing.

"Elspeth, a word." Karkaroff said bluntly once he had reached the table. It was clear he was furious. He never used her full name unless he was taunting her or she was in serious trouble.

"Errr..." She stammered, trying desperately to think of an excuse as to why she could not.

"NOW!" He demanded in a sudden shout, glaring around the table, holding his stare longer on the boys either side of an attempt to keep what little of his temper he had left, Ella stood up and followed him without arguing.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

"I'm sorry, I have to go," Fred mumbled to the others before leaving his untouched breakfast and heading towards the exit where his friend and her headmaster had just disappeared through.

"Am I missing something?" Harry asked the group around the table, all of whom shrugged. Apart from George that is.

"Well, he might well kill me for telling you this," Gorge said, lowering his voice, "but I walked out of the common room last to find your big sis up against a wall with our little Freddie," He laughed as everyone's faces dropped around them.

"Are you serious?!" Ron gawped.

"Of course I'm serious little brother. She was even in my room when I came in this morning," George was now nearly doubling over in laughter at the younger student's expressions.

"WHAT?!" Harry bellowed before lowering his voice and continuing, "I'm sorry guys, but if Fred's just using her, I swear down I'll..."

"Calm down kiddo," George cut him off, "She was fast asleep in my bed while Fred was in his own.

"Oh, sorry," Harry said sheepishly.

Meanwhile, Fred had been following the sound of footsteps through the castle to try and find Ella and Karkaroff. He grinded to a halt when he heard voices and realised the pair were only around the corner. He poked his head round the wall to see the young girl with her back to her headmaster. Even from behind, Fred could Ella was furious by the way she was trembling.

"I told you that I was with my brother last night," Ella spat, spinning round to face older man.

"And I told _you,_" He spat back, "that I don't believe you,"

"Well that's just too bad," Ella shot back

"I thought I had already spoke to you about watching your tone!" Karkaroff hissed in the girl's face.

"You know what, I'm done," Ella declared at the top of her voice.

"Keep your voice down you foolish girl! What are you even talking about?"

"I'm done with this," She said simply gesturing to him then herself, "all of it. I'm done with you telling me when and where you want me and me just simply complying. I'm done with being your dirty little skank to satisfy you just to for you to throw me away until the following night and most of all I'm done with you...period,"

Fred held his breath, waiting for the explosion. Instead Karkaroff dropped his grip on the girl's arm and stood back speechless. Ella too was holding her breath in suspense. Just as she was breathing a sigh of relief that he hadn't reacted, just merely stood and stared at her, he quickly raised his hand and struck her across the face.

"Silly cow!" He spat before turning on his heel and striding away.

"Ella!" Fred yelled, running to the girl who was holding her face, from his previous concealment behind the wall. "Fuck, Ella," He stated, startled by the growing red mark on her cheek. "I'm so so sorry. I said I would stop him and I didn't, I just stood and watched. I thought he was just going to walk off after that long. Honestly, I'm so sorry,"

"shhh, Fred," Ella spoke softly, removing the hand from her face and pressing it lightly against his lips.

"I'm proud of you, though," Fred whispered softly in her ear, "for finally standing up to him," He started to kiss a path down her neck. She momentarily relaxed into him before pulling away with a sigh.

"I'm sorry Fred. I just value our friendship and mine and Harry's relationship too much." She started in an apologetic tone. "Plus, everything is just too complicated with Igor at the minute, I've still got to put up with him as a teacher if nothing else,"

"Say no more, I understand," Fred replied, giving the girl's arm a friendly and encouraging squeeze."Come on," He nodded his head towards the stairs, "At least relax in the common room until that mark goes down." Ella nodded slowly before following the tall, ginger boy.

Ella lounged in front of the fire, warming herself up from the cold november frost. Fred was sat next to her, also enjoying the warmth and comfort the fire provided him with. The pair chatted, laughed and shared stories until they were disturbed by another presence entering the room. George greeted the pair enthusiastically before joining them.

"Wondered where you two had disappeared off to. I thought you might be carrying on from where you left off last night," He teased them, throwing Ella a quick wink. George suddenly noticed the hand shaped mark on the side of her face, "Merlin's beard Ella, what the hell happened?! Don't tell me it was that moody headmaster of yours," He fumed.

"Well..." She started hesitantly.

"My god, you have to tell someone!" George demanded. Ella just looked to Fred for help.

"We had an idea," Fred interrupted his brother, "Telling on Igor would be a last resort as it would bring around public humiliation for Ella and god only knows what Igor would do then, but as I had we had an idea,"

"Well what's this grand idea then?" George enquired, curious about his twin's rare seriousness.

"I want to transfer to Hogwarts," Ella stated plainly.

"Is he really that bad?" George asked, completely unaware of the relationship between the student and her headmaster.

"He really is," Fred answered for her when he saw the tears brewing in her eyes.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

"So did you do it?" George asked his twin eagerly the minute Ella had left the room to use the toilet.

"What?" Fred asked in reply.

"Did you ask Ella to that Yule ball thing next month?" George paused at the blank look on his twin's face. "You know that ball and you were planning to tell Ella that you liked her and wanted to go to the dance with her and..."

"I remember," Fred interrupted bluntly, "She just made it clear downstairs that she wasn't interested in being anything more than friends,"

"Oh, did she say why?"

"Trust me, things are just complicated, far more than you would imagine.

The days passed quickly, shortly turning into weeks. Harry had been growing ever closer to his sister and both finally felt like they belonged to a family they could call their own. Ella had even received a letter of Sirius, Harry's godfather, which read:

_Dear Ella,_

_I knew you would turn up soon enough. I am glad you and Harry seem to be getting on so well from what Harry's told me. He also told me that you too have been dragged into entering this tournament too and that you did exceptionally well in the first task and you're tying for first place with your brother. Your parents would be so proud if they could see you both now. And from what I hear you're also doing your Dad proud in carrying on his legend of being the life and sole of the party. It would be lovely to hear or see from you soon, after all you were just learning how to talk last time I saw you, _

_Lots of love, Padfoot_

Though the letter was quite short, it was indeed very sweet. After all, from what she had heard, Sirius wasn't a man of many words, just many pranks. It made her smile the think of her father running around causing trouble, a certain talent her and her brother seemed to have undoubtedly inherited. Ella sat down to write a reply immediately

.

_Dear Padfoot,_

_It's been amazing getting to know Harry. I just wish I could have been there for him more when he was younger. I would love to meet up some time and you could tell me more about what my Dad used to get up to in his school days. The tasks are hard and I'm still no where near finding out any clues on the next task but I suppose it's just going to take time, I just can't help worrying for Harry's sake._

_Lots of love, Ella_

Life for Ella had really began to pick up. She had managed to establish a good set of friends in the gryffindor house, always being able to rely on George, Fred and Lee Jordan to cheer her up if she was feeling low, along with Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell who were always up for a girly heart to heart which she had sorely missed during her stay on the ship. She was spending most nights bunking either on the floor of Viktor's room or going top to tail with him in either one of their beds in order to avoid facing Karkaroff's recent, constant fury and wrath.

Igor, on the other hand, was refusing to give up on his little play toy, which he had become so fond of messing around with. That was until she had started to gain an attitude, but he was nothing if he wasn't up for a challenge, which Ella was certainly proving to start to be. One night,he spied the younger girl walking onto the ship alone and waited a few minutes before entering her cabin.

"Igor, what are you doing here?" Ella asked, slightly startled by his sudden appearance. He said nothing, just continued to advance towards her wearing his revolting smug, dirty grin. "I told you THIS had to stop, now stop,"

Karkaroff just laughed at the slight tremor in her voice.

"Tut tut tut, someone needs a bit of a lesson in hierarchy I think," He cackled maliciously.

"I'm a student and you're my teacher, you need a lesson in what's appropriate, because this- you turning up in my room like this- certainly isn't!" She spat out with a new found courage which she wasn't sure where she had gotten from. The smile that had previously been occupying Igor's face had now vanished. "You just manipulate and twist people because you know if you don't they'll just walk away, like I'm trying to do," Ella couldn't help herself from saying. She was physically shaking with anger. She knew she had pushed him too far the second those words had slipped out of her mouth, but it was too late.

"You stupid cow" He growled before grabbing both her wrists and slamming her against the wall that she had been backing away towards. "You seem to have forgotten part of the reason why I brought you here, but don't worry, that's fixed easily enough."

He released her wrists before instantly using one of his forearms to roughly pin her to the wall by her shoulders. He started to grab at and tear the feisty girl's top from her, ignoring her protests.

"Get off me!" Ella bellowed, trying desperately to elbow the horrid man off of her, all too aware of the tears now streaming down her face.

"You will do as you are told for once!" He snapped, his voice shaking in an uncontrollable rage. He started trying her kiss her fiercely but she kept turning her head to the side, determined not to show any sign of affection to the man, which angered him further.

Karkaroff let out a low harsh laugh as he successfully managed to remove her top, leaving her stood in her deep turquoise, lace bra

"STOP!" She yelled at the top of her voice, uncaring whether she sounded her panic or not. "STOP! STOP! STOP!" She yelled repeatedly. All of a sudden there was a loud banging at the door. Karkaroff stopped his attempts of kissing her and roughly shoved his hand over her mouth to muffle her yells.

"Will you be quiet!" He hissed in a hushed voice in her ear, "They'll go away,"

"Ella, I know you're in there and I'm not leaving until you open this door!" Viktors boomed over his loud bangs against the locked door. Noticing, Karkaroff had released his hold on her slightly due to the distraction, Ella swiftly swung her left knee directly into her headmaster's balls.

"Argghh, you stupid bitch!" He snapped, gasping in pain. She took the opportunity to grab the dressing gown,which was lying on her bed from earlier, using it to cover herself, before unlocking and opening the door.

"I heard you shout, are you alright?" Viktor asked, seeing the tears still pouring down his best friend's face.

"I'm fi..." She started before she was cut off by Viktor storming into her room and grabbing the headmaster who was picking himself up off of the floor. With one clean swing, Viktor hit him square in the jaw, producing a satisfying crack.

"You EVER touch her again, I will personally kill you!" He growled, fearsome enough even to shake the spiteful, vicious headmaster."Understand?" Viktor bellowed at the man. In response, Igor stood up suddenly, shoving his student.

"BOTH of you need to learn some respect," He spat before storming out.

Viktor turned back to Ella, who had now wrapped the dressing gown around herself properly. He strode up to her and clutched her a large embrace.

"Get dressed and go for a walk," He commanded, "It will do you no good to go straight to bed in this state," He finished before also turning and walking out of the room.

Ella slipped an old, oversized jumper, that used to be Viktor's, on. She straightened out her leggings and slipped on a pair of tattered old plimsolls. She did as Viktor had advised and went for a walk around the lake. Half way round, she spotted a familiar ginger mop head, leaning against a tree.

"Fred?" She asked timidly, walking up to him before sitting down beside him.

He glanced over at her and offered her a small, sweet smile, most unlike his normal large and blatantly mischievous one. His smile quickly faded when he noticed the girl's eyes were red and puffy and that there were tear tracks running down her delicate skin on her face.

"What's happened?" He asked, deeply concerned.

"It's a long story," Ella tried to shrug it off.

"Good job I've got a lot of time," He replied.

"Igor..." She started but suddenly the rest of her words got stuck in her throat.

"He what? What did the dirty bastard do to you," Freds temper instatnly rising.

"He tried to force me to..." She broke off in sobs, tears once again streaming down her face.

"Don't worry, I understand." Fred reassured her, his temper suddenly vanishing and was replaced by a sharp pang in his chest from seeing the usually tough, cheerful girl cry. He pulled her in close to him, so her head was resting against her sturdy chest. "Don't worry, he won't be getting away with it."

He sat stroking her hair while she nuzzled further into the comfort and safety of his chest, long after she had stopped crying. After about an hour, Fred put two fingers under the girls chin and tilted her face up so she was looking directly at him. She looked a lot calmer now, but none the less was still very upset and fragile.

"Come on, it's nearly pitch black," He said, and he was right. It had already been dusk when Ella had left the ship. He got up, offering a hand to the girl. "You're sleeping in my bed and I'll sleep on the floor next to you in case you need anything. Okay?" Ella nodded before accepting his hand and stumbled to her feet. Fred wrapped his arm around her waist on their way back up to the castle as though she was injured and needed support.

Once they were in the bedroom, the other two boys whom Fred shared a room with had already turned in for the night. Ella slipped into the safety and warm comfort of Fred's bed, not bothering to change due to her sheer exhaustion. Fred tucked the sheets in around her before kissing her lightly on the head.

"Thanks," Ella whispered graciously, "for everything," she offered a small smile, which was the first since the incident earlier that evening.

"It's fine," He smiled back, winking at her, causing her to chuckle softly. And with that Fred set up his bed for the night on the floor grabbing his spare bedding from under his bed which he kept for incase of emergencies (like an especially cold winter's night).

"Night," He murmured quietly, but all he got in reply was the sound of Ella's deep breaths as her chest rose and fell in a dreamless sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

It was now early December and the yule ball was merely weeks away. Ella had been asked by a few different boys, one from hogwarts and two from Durmstrang but she turned them down as she decided she wasn't really in the celebrating or romance mood. On the upside, Karkaroff had pretty much avoided Ella as much as he could after the night in her room.

It was a weekend where the Hogwarts students in third year or above were allowed to go Hogsmeade. Harry was on his way through the entrance hall when he spotted his sister alone, reading a copy of intermediate potions, sat on one of the steps into the courtyard.

"Ella!" Harry greeted his sister, running up to her.

"Oh hey Harry," She gave him a genuine smile.

"What are you doing now?" He asked her eagerly. "Apart from reading that," He eyed the book, disgusted at the thought of doing work on a weekend this close to the end of term.

"Ahaha," She laughed at her brother's hatred for anything to do with potions or his most hated teacher, Professor Snape, whom she had heard a lot about, all of which was negative. "Nothing then I suppose," She answered, tossing the book to her side.

"Great, so you can come to Hogsmeade with us then?" He asked hopefully, glancing back at Ron and Hermione who were stood behind him.

"Yeah sure, if that's alright with you two," Ella gestured towards her brother's friends.

"Yeah of course," Hermione answered instantly. She had taken a strong liking to her bestfriend's sister. Ron nodded in agreement.

The four of the set off walking towards the village in the light snow. They spent most the journey talking and laughing, before the subject of the Yule ball cropped up.

"I can't believe we _still _haven't got dates yet," Ron groaned to Harry at the thought of having to pluck up the courage to actually ask a girl to go with him.

"Urghh I know, I'd rather get past another dragon before embarrassing myself again. Cho already having a date was humiliating enough and that was relatively private," Harry replied, "So, are you going to reveal who you're going with then Ella seen as Hermione's made it perfectly clear she won't tell us who she's going with," He shot a teasing smile over to his best friend.

"Let me guess, Fred?" Ron asked laughing. "The bloody lad's beside himself," Ella just laughed.

"No, I'm not going with anyone. Infact I'm not sure I want to go at all." She said.

"What! No one's asked you?" Ron asked in disbelief, "Not even Fred?!"

"Ahaha, no three boys have, I'm just not in the romance mood to be honest," She admitted, "And to answer your earlier question Ronald, your brother hasn't asked me, we're just good friends. Infact, Angelina told me she was going with him last night,"

"Oh..." Ron trailed away awkwardly.

"I think I agree with you there," Harry said to his sister, changing the topic quickly, "I really can't be bothered with any relationship stuff while I'm trying to get through this bloody tournament alive. Hey, I've got an idea," Harry exclaimed.

"Oh god," Ella rolled her eyes and laughed, "Go on then,"  
"Well seen as neither of us can really be arsed with dates but we both have to go with someone because we're champions, how about we go together as brother and sister?"

"Harry, that's brilliant!" Ella squealed and enveloped him in a bone crushing hug. "I cannot tell you how much I've been dreading finding a date. Oh that's taken a huge weight off of my shoulders," She let out a sigh of relief before releasing her brother.

The golden trio showed Ella round Hogsmeade, stopping first at honeydukes. They then headed off to Zonko's joke shop, where they bumped into Fred, George, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie.

"Now then stranger!" George came up behind the four, ruffling Ella's hair. "Have you been avoiding us? I've barely seen you since I woke up to find you in my twin's bed," He laughing loudly at the reaction he caused from the rest of the group, earning himself a sharp elbow in the ribs from his twin. Ella and Fred both went beatroot red whilst the others all gasped in disbelief. Apart from Harry that is.

"You what?! Don't tell me you slept with him and he hasn't even asked you to the Yule Ball?!" He huffed angrily.

"No, no Harry. You've misunderstood. I was in Fred's bed and he was on the floor next to me, nothing of that sort went on. Me and Fred are just good friends."

Harry just huffed dismissively, "This has a happened a couple too many times now for nothing at all to be going on,"

"Well there's not," Ella said defensively, "Is there Fred?"

"No," He said, looking at his feet, "nothing."

"Ella, you want to come with us for a bit?" George asked, jumping in, saving his twin from further embarrassment.

"Yeah sure," She agreed half doubtfully. It was true, she had been avoiding the twins (mainly Fred) since she told him about what happened with Igor. Honestly, she was embarrassed at her weakness that night and hated that pitying look he had in his eye when he looked at her. "I'll meet you at tea?" She said, turning to Harry who nodded before heading off with his friends.

"So are you going to tell us why you really have been avoiding us?" George teased Ella, picking her up by her legs and running round with her over his shoulders like a fireman, except he just looked like a mad one.

"Put me down," Ella finally managed to get out through her laughter.

"Ok," He replied, instantly dropping her, so she stumbled, nearly face planting the snow. Ella gave him what the others described as her disapproving Hermione scowl.

"And I haven't been avoiding you, I've just been busy trying to work out this next task."

"Having any luck?" Angelina asked.

"No, it just makes this high pitched screeching noise every time I open it."

"How's your side where the dragon got you?" Fred asked

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that. How is it?" George chimed in.

"Madame Pomfrey did a good job on it. It's healed quite well, but it will probably leave a mark. Look," Ella said pulling up her top the reveal the remains of what had once been a deep gash. It had mostly healed over now, but still looked quite red and sore.

The group decided to make their way to the Three Broomsticks for a round of butterbeer.

"I need to quickly dash to the owl place Harry was talking about," Ella said, remembering that she still had to send Sirius her reply to his letter enquiring about Igor and whether she knew if he was still partaking in dark activities. "Do any of you know where it is?"

"I'll show you, I need to send a letter to mum anyway and our crappy excuse of an owl is on it's last legs now," Fred offered.

"Awh thanks," Ella smiled graciously, "We won't be long, meet the rest of you in the three broomsticks then?" The others all nodded simultaneously before turning towards the inn.

The pair walked to the owlery in an uncomfortable silence, until Fred pulled her down the side of one of the buildings, off of the main road filled with people.

"I know you have been purposely avoiding me, admit. I just can't understand why?" Fred demanded, slightly annoyed at the girl's dishonesty.

"Fred, I'm sorry it's just..."

"Just what? That you've worked things out with Igor and you've gone running back to him?" He snapped in a sudden, unexplained fury. Ella's face dropped at this comment before she smacked hard on the arm, tears now streaming down her face.

"How could you?!" She screamed, close to hysterical. "You KNOW what happened that night. That's why I've been avoiding you. I couldn't face seeing you. I was too embarrassed and couldn't bare the pity," She said less hysterically but still in tears.

"What pity?" He asked, all anger vanishing and being replaced with remorse, seeing how upset he had made her.

"That look in your eye. It's only because you care but that's what makes it all the harder and honestly; it scares me. How many people do think genuinely care about you in an orphanage? I'll tell now that it's not many at all. Before coming here, Viktor was the only one to ever show any interest in my well being, and even he doesn't care like all of you do," She wept.

Fred scooped her into a warm hug. "I'm so sorry Ella, you know I didn't mean it," He kissed her on the head. She raised her head to look at the boy. He leant down to kiss her, only for her to pull away.

"You've _just _asked Angelina to the ball," Ella hesitated.

"Actually she asked me," Fred retorted only to receive a raised eyebrow from Ella, "and I only accepted because I knew you wouldn't be up for anything remotely romantic after Igor and I couldn't go alone. I've got a reputation as the school stud to uphold," He joked.

"Still," Ella said, laughing at the boy's high opinion of himself, "I think Angelina actually likes you for some wild bizarre reason,£so I'm not going to hurt her over some boy,"

"Even if that boy was me?" Fred asked with a mischievous glint in his eye.

"Yes, especially if that boy's name Fred Weasley," She teased the older boy before walked back to the main road. "So you gonna show me this shop or what? The others are going to get suspicious if we're gone much longer."


	15. Chapter 15

**Hi hi, sorry I haven't updated in a few days. I went to London over the weekend(I'm a northerner so it's a long trip for me) so I didn't have time to write anything. Thank you so much for the lovely reviews and private messages :) hope you enjoy and remember to keep reviewing :3 **

**xoxo Charlotte**

Chapter 15

It was now Christmas Eve and the days had become much more enjoyable for Ella. She was meeting up with her brother almost everyday for dance practices after he had confessed to her what a terrible dancer he was. And he had, literally, been painfully right. Ella's feet were bruised and swollen from all the times her brother had trodden clumsily on them. However, slowly, but surely, as the weeks progressed, so had he. Both siblings were really enjoying this time they spent alone, getting to know one another, and both now felt as if they had known the other for their whole life.

The twins were sat in the cosy yet ridiculously messy room which they shared with their best friend, Lee Jordan.

"Still can't believe you didn't pluck the courage to ask Ella to the ball tomorrow," George mocked his brother, "she's obviously into you and..."

"and you fancy the pants of Angelina," Fred cut his brother off, chuckling. George just went red. "Admit it. You fancy her, don't you?"

"Well, maybe a bit. I mean...she's hot, there's no denying that. And I suppose she's quite funny as well," George trailed off into a bit of a haze.

"HA! I knew it!" Fred exclaimed triumphantly. George just punched him in the arm playfully.

"So when you gonna make your move on her?" George asked, quickly diverting the subject from his own lustings.

"You what?"

"Ella. When are you going to snog her senseless,"

Fred put on a look of faked shock at his brother's crudeness. "If you can't remember, we have snogged before and I have tried to kiss her since and yet she still doesn't seem to see me as anything more than a friend," Fred ranted, exasperated at the situation and his brother's persistence..

"You just need to give her a chance. Find a way of getting her away from school for a bit and just make her laugh and wind her up constantly,"

Fred just rolled his eyes before saying, "So, where could I go to get away from this place?"

"Well, seen as we're going home after christmas, for new year, how about we ask mum if we can make it a big family thing and tell her we've got a surprise person for her to meet and tell Harry to bring his sister." George rounded off triumphantly.

"But since when have I ever take girl advice from you?" Fred laughed.

"Since it's been over 3 months since you last got laid and I've shagged four in two months. You're just going to have to watch and learn my brother," George laughed, before slapping his brother on the back and heaving himself off of the floor where he had been sat with his twin. "And if you don't mind, I'm going to go and flirt more with your date for tomorrow."

Ella woke up to the sweet melody of singing birds outside the ship, dancing merrily around in the still peaceful morning. She allowed her eyes to drop shut once again, sinking further into her suddenly much more welcoming, bed, before snapping her eyes open with a gasp, realising what day it was. It was christmas day and she had completely forgotten.

She jumped up out of bed, scrambling around for a pair of loose, comfy tracksuit bottoms to slip on under her over-sized shirt of Viktor's, which she always wore to bed. She pulled on her large fully socks before cramming her feet into her large snow boots. She then grabbed the bag filled with presents and set off out of her room and towards the castle.

Ella was hoping she had got out early enough not to run into her headmaster, or any of her Durmstrang peers really, as the sky was barely lit. However, she had no such fortune.

"And where are you going Miss Potter?" Karkaroff spat mockingly at the younger girl as she came hurtling down the hallway carrying a small sack of presents as though she thought she was some sort of Santa Claus equivalent.

"I'm going to see my brother and you can't really stop me," Ella spat back in reply. Nothing or no one was going to ruin her mood. She hurtled around another corner to run directly into the large, stocky Quidditch player.

"What's got you in such a hurry?" Viktor asked, amused.

"I'm going to go see my brother. Can you believe that I actually have a family to spend this christmas with?!" Ella exclaimed, her excitement bringing her close to tears.

"Well, you have a brother," He laughed, "But if that is enough for you, it is enough for me as long as you still come to see me."

"Of course I will!" She said half shocked at the thought. "You came to see me and kept me company last summer," She indicated that she was referring to the time she spent in Igor's flat by nodding her head vigorously backwards, vaguely to where the older man had been standing.

"Right, I'm going to let you go now before you go crazy on me," He joked. It seemed that Christmas could even put the most sullen of international quidditch players in a good mood.

"Oh wait," Ella shouted, giving Viktor a shock, before turning on her heel running straight towards him, "I forgot to give you these," She pulled out two delicately small boxes, wrapped in a majestic burgundy red complete with a gold ribbon, pulled into a tight neat bow on the top, from her sack.

"This one," She said, handing him the slightly larger of the two boxes, "Is for you," Viktor smiled and received the gift graciously. "And this one," Ella said handing the second of the boxes, "Is for you to give to Hermione,"

"Wha...what?" He stammered, caught off guard.

"I'm not stupid, I know you two are going to the ball tonight, together. Even if no one else does."

"Oh right..." He said, unsure of how to respond to this thoughtful gift. He gave her a grateful smile and a big hug hoping it would substitute sufficiently for his lack of words.

"I really should be going now," She said, finally coming out of the hug, "I'll see you later and have a nice christmas."

Ella dashed up the various moving stairways towards the gryffindor common room, a route she knew quite well by now.

"Fairy lights," She gave the particularly festive password which her brother had told her so she didn't have to be collected like a little child every time she wanted to see him. The castle had incredible decorations for the festive season. Harry had told her that it was much more so than normal and that he had thought that the teachers were wanting to impress the other schools. The portrait swung open, allowing Ella to climb through to the common room. It seemed that the inhabitants of the ship must rise a lot earlier than those of Hogwarts. The common room was practically deserted which was extremely odd considering the majority of the 4th years and above had stayed at school over christmas for the yule ball later that day. She quickly pranced up the stairs towards the boys dormitory to see her brother. It then occurred to her that she didn't actually know which room exactly her brother slept in as she had never been in it, she had only ever been in the twin's and lee's room before.

Sheepishly, she knocked on the door before pushing it open, creaking noisily.

"Merlin's beard, we can't seem to keep you away," George laughed. To Ella's relief the boys looked as though they had been awake before she had knocked but by the state of them and the fact that they were all still lying or half sitting up in bed, they hadn't been awake long.

"Sorry, I meant to come see my brother but then I realised I don't actually know which room's his," She replied, rubbing the back of her neck out of embarrassment.

"We'll show you in a minute, just let us wake up a bit more first," Fred said, peering up at her through half closed eyes, "come sit with us," he added, indicating to the end of his bed with his foot. Ella obliged and flung herself down on Fred's bed, not caring how 'unladylike' she looked. Her professors at Beauxbatons used to constantly complain about how unlike a lady she was, and it drove her round the bend.

"We were just discussing lee's latest lays," George said bluntly. The boys waited for her to pull a face of disgust. However, she just threw her head back and laughed.

"So go on then Lee, who's your latest shag and how recent is it?" Ella said joining much to the boys surprise.

"Oh, are you not going to give us a lecture on how we should treat you girls better and how we shouldn't talk about yous in that way?" Lee asked half expecting it to be a trap.

"No,not at all. What you lads don't realise is that us girls tell each other about our shags aswell so not only do we find out who but we also find out whether they were shit or not," She burst out in fits of laughter as the boys shared horrified looks. "So go on then, who is it?" Ella persisted.

"Helen Dawlish, from Ravenclaw," He answered bluntly realising the girl wasn't joking.

"Oh and I've got you all a present," Ella interrupted the conversation to pull out the three neatly wrapped boxes, while it was on her mind.

"aww thanks," Fred exclaimed, and was echoed soon after by the other boys. They hastily pulled the wrapping off the presents to all find a box full of no heat indoor filibuster fireworks. Fred pulled her into a big hug from where he was lying, causing her to let out a squeal and laugh.

"Good luck getting away," He laughed, holding the girl tighter to his chest the more she squirmed, now crying with laughter.

"FRED!" She yelled as he started to tickle her, causing legs to shoot out everywhere. Finally he let go of her, and due to the restraints she had been fighting so hard against suddenly disappearing the girl went tumbling off the bed onto the floor, making the whole room errupt in hysterical laughter.

"What the bloody hell's going on in here?" Ron asked, stood in the doorway, accompanied by his two best friends.

"MERRY CHRISTMAS GUYS!" Ella yelled running hugging all three of them separately, giving her brother an extra long and bone crushing one, before throwing presents out of her sack at each of them. Harry hugged his sister and gave her his own present. Ella had gotten Harry a book entitled 'legendary quidditch moves and tactics throughout the ages' and a framed copy of the photo she had kept hidden in her bedside draw that she had been sent anonymously when she was 13. It was a photo of her Father and mother sat on the floor in what looked like a living room, Lily leaning in to James. On the floor in front of the two parents were two toddlers, one girl who looked around 2 and a boy which looked about. Everyone in the photo bore a huge grin, Lily even throwing her head back in laughter. Harry stared at her in shock and amazment when he opened the second of his presents.

"W...w...where did you get this?" He asked, tears swimming in his eyes.

"It's a copy of the one I was sent anonymously 3 years ago," She replied.

"Thanks," He grinned ear to ear, barely able to stop the tears of joy from splashing down his face.

Harry had gotten Ella a delicate necklace pendant of a pure white lily with a deep violet centre, on a thin gold chain.

"Wow, Harry. It's beautiful," She gasped, fastening it around his neck.

"Sirius gave it to me last year, it was our mums. He found it in the house after..." Harry trailed off, not wanting to ruin the happy atmosphere of the twin's room.

"Oh, Harry," She gasped, leaning in to hug him once again. "I love you,"

"I love you too, Ella,"


	16. Chapter 16

**Finally it's the Yule Ball and are things actually going right for Ella for once? Hope you all are enjoying my story, and keep reading, I have a feeling it's going to be a long one but don't worry they will be getting together in the next couple of chapters :) just don't think that will be the end of all drama, if only someone could tell these poor characters what lay in store for them :3 anyways, happy reading and keep reviewing :)**

**xoxo Charlotte**

**PS, direct message me if you want me to send you a picture of the dress and hair that inspired me for Ella's Yule Ball outfit, won't let me post on here x**

Chapter 16

The rest of the morning and afternoon had passed relatively uneventfully. After the delicious christmas lunch the group of friends went outside for a snowball fight, which Hermione sat defiantly out of, still worrying about SPEW and the house elves reluctance to be freed. At one point, Fred hadn't been looking where he was going in his mad dash to avoid a snowball to the head from his twin and ended up colliding straight into Ella who was doing the exact same avoid one from Ron. The pair had ended up in fits of laughter, disabling them to get up from the tangle they lay in on the floor.

It got to 5 o'clock before they departed the snow laden school grounds to go and get ready for the Yule Ball that evening. Ella went back to the ship, sad that she always had to go opposite ways to her friends. Just before they were out of earshot she heard someone calling her name. She turned around to see the group beckoning for her to go over.

"What?!" She yelled in response whilst she was running towards them. "Right, what is it? You know I don't do this whole running thing," She said through gasps for breath.

"Our little brother here just reminded us that we needed to tell you mum's invited you and Harry to join us in at the Burrow to stay with us over new year." Fred said, half in question.

"Oh wow, thank you guys. I'd love to stay with you. I've never really done this family christmas thing before," She said pulling the twins down to her height to hug them, "are you sure your mum's okay having me round?" She asked hesitantly.

"Well she doesn't know that _you're _coming. We've just told her we've got a surprise for her and she knows there's going to be an extra guest." George hesitated.

"WHAT?! I can't just intrude on her," Ella replied, shocked at the twin's devious plotting.

"Of course you can!" Fred answered immediately, "Mum will be thrilled to know you're alright. We all assumed you died the same night as your parents. All mum ever said when you were brought up in the conversation subject was 'how awful to kill such a sweet little toddler. Oh she such a sweet, pretty little thing'," Fred said, impersonating his mother.

"Okay, okay. I'll come," Ella said, laughing at the impression of Mrs Weasley.

Back at the ship Ella got changed into her ball dress. It was an elegant dress with two thin straps and a low v-neck line. The bodice of the dress was a darker champagne colour, shining tastefully with carefully placed diamantes. The lighter champagne skirt of the dress was long and floaty, puffing outwards very slightly in neat ruffles, flatteringly accentuating and showing off her curvy figure. She twisted and braided her hair into a slightly messy bun, a few stray loose curls, escaping to frame her face. She finished off by slipping on a pair of open toe, high heeled, sandals which were also a variation of the same champagne colour. The colour suited her, bringing out her golden tan from the summer she spent in Europe and her emerald green eyes.

Ella made her way out of the ship, towards the castle. Just before she reached the door of the castle's entrance, she felt a rough hand grab her comparatively small wrist and tug her round the corner.

"Now, I don't want you to embarrass me at all tonight," Igor said in a tone of faked niceness, "and I assume you are opening the ball, entering with my aide, Alexei Abdulov?"

"Well...errr...no," Ella said.

"What do you mean? Who in merlin's name are you going with then?" He demanded.

"I mean I said no to him when he asked me because I didn't want anything romantic in any way shape or form tonight and I knew he would there to watch me because _you _told him to do so," She spat in response, quickly losing her temper at his need to control her, "oh and I'm going with my brother," She said before quickly walking into the entrance hall where there was too many people for him to cause a scene.

"Wow, you look so pretty." Ella turned around to see her brother smiling at her.

"Awh, thanks," She said, her attention broken by watching Igor storm through the entrance hall.

"Can all champions get ready to open the ball whilst all other students take their places in the great hall please," Professor Mcgonagall's voice sounded authoritatively over the general chatter of the hall. The students all did as they were told, as even the foreign students had soon learnt that Professor Mcgonagall was a highly respected teacher that wasn't to be messed around. Soon it was the champions turn to enter.

"Ready?" Harry asked.

"Ready," Ella replied.

The champions walked into the Great Hall, which was now filled with students applauding them as they entered. They took their seats at the main table on which the judges were sat on, Percy Weasley sat in place of Mr Crouch Sr, in his time off ill. All throughout the meal, Percy twittered in Harry and Ella's ears about how great his beloved Mr Crouch was, much to their annoyance. Half way through the meal, Percy took to praising his boss again.

"You know, Mr Crouch has been working ever so hard on this tournament," Percy chirped, earning a role of the eyes from everyone in earshot, "so much infact, I personally believe it is what has made him. Not that I am complaining about having to stand in of course, it is a great honor to feel that he knows he can put his trust into me," Percy gave a sickly sweet smile, much like a beaming sheep. Ella suddenly remembered about the twins telling her how Mr Crouch kept calling him by the wrong name at the Quidditch world cup, much to everyone other than Percy's amusement.

"So I gather he's finally learnt your name then?" Ella asked in a fake politeness, with a sickly grin of her own, causing Harry to choke on his beef in laughter.

"Errmm...well..." Percy stuttered, thinking of how to regain his dignity, "Of course he has, I had only been working for him for a very short time then and you know Mr Crouch oversees a _LOT _of people," He puffed out his chest indignantly like a small child.

"okay okay, whatever you say," Ella waved off, promptly stopping any further conversation of Percy's amazing beyond belief boss.

After the meal, the champions were asked to take to the dance floor to initiate the first dance. Ella could tell that her brother's nerves were getting the better of him.

"It's fine," She whispered in his ear, "I'll lead, just follow me exactly like we did in practice,"

He nodded at her reassurance. As the music started Harry took his sister's waist and they began to dance around the floor. It wasn't half as bad as he had dreaded, he only stumbled over his own feet a couple of times but Ella had managed to cover it gracefully each time. After the first dance, the rest of the students and professors flooded the floor to join in.

"Hey, can we go and get some drinks?" Harry asked, tired from the level of concentration that went into his dancing. Ella agreed and they moved off the dance floor, where they saw Ron sulking staring jealously at Hermione and Viktor, leaving his date, a girl Ella knew to be called Padma Patil, looking sour and bored next to him.

"Go and sit with Ron and I'll get the drinks," Ella muttered to her brother before departing in the direction of the giant bowl of pumpkin juice.

As Ella waited in line, she felt a large finger prod her sharply in the back. She let out a scream of shock, spinning round to find out who the culprit was. She could have guessed, and let out a loud laugh as she saw the mischievous red head towering above her, laughing at the reaction he had caused.

"You idiot, you scared the shit out of me!" She laughed, smacking him across the arm.

"Oi," Fred replied, pretending to be hurt, "I just wanted to say hi," He said sadly, putting on the puppy eyes.

"Don't you pull that face at me Fred Weasley," She attempted (and failed) to say seriously. Fred's smile quickly returned when he began to tease her,

"Don't tell me Harry's ditched you already! And after one dance," He mocked her in jest.

"Let's just say, he's not a natural dancing type. Anyway, where's Angelina?"

"Oh, she's dancing with George. I've never seen George with an actual crush on a girl before, he's always just thought about whether they're hot or not. So I thought the least I could do was let him dance with her. So do you want to dance,"

"I need to take these drinks over to Harry," She said trying to avoid eye contact.

"That's not a problem," Fred grabbed the two cups which she had poured and walked towards Harry, with Ella in tow. Once he reached the boy he handed him the cups and said :

"Would it be alright if I take your dance partner for a dance?"

"Freddd," Ella groaned, embarrassed at the whole situation.

"Errr...sure. Don't see why not," Harry said, amused at the older boy's obvious ploy to pull.

"Great." Fred said, turning and striding towards the dance floor, pulling Ella along by the hand in the process.

"I'm sorry," She mouthed to her brother as she was dragged away.

Once on the dance floor, Fred took a surprisingly gentle yet authoritative hold of her hand and waist and began to dance. He lead them around the dance floor surprisingly well. Ella had never really thought of him as much of a dancer. The pair danced the whole night, just laughing and enjoying each other's company, until they heard the announcement saying it was the last song.

"Bloody hell, that went quick," Ella said, slightly stunned at how quickly the time had gone. She scanned around the room to realise a lot of the students, including her brother, had gone to bed.

"You must be enjoying yourself," Fred teased her, pulling her closer as the next song started. The last song was slow and romantic.

"Must be," Ella said quieting, resting her on Fred's broad shoulder, nuzzling her face, close into his neck as he pulled her closer still, to the point they were touching. They swayed back and forth without saying a word, just soaking up the last minutes of the feeling of each other's body pressed against them. When the song ended, the pair just stood still for a moment, neither one wanting to accept the night had come to an end. Finally fred stepped an inch back so he could look at the her, but careful not to put too much distance between the them. Ella looked up and her emerald green eyes met his soft, gentle brown ones.

"I've really enjoyed myself tonight," She said so timidly it was almost a whisper.

"Me too," Fred grinned softly, "and might I add, that you look absolutely gorgeous tonight," he added before leaning forward, his lips meeting hers. Ella closed the slight distance between them in response and deepened the soft, tender kiss, before pulling away with a sigh.

"Fred..." She started to say.

"Shhh," He said, pressing his lips to hers once more. Once again she reciprocated his kiss. Her lips felt hot as they melted against his.

"Let's go back to the common room," Ella whispered breathily into his lips.

Back at the common room, most of the students had gone to bed, or at least retired to more private places, except for a couple of 7th years who were sharing an intimate kiss in the far corner of the room. Fred sat iby of the fire, pulling Ella down to sit in front him where she leant on him, resting her head on his broad, hard chest. Even through his shirt, she could feel his toned muscles from all his years as being a beater on the Gryffindor Quidditch team. They sat watching the fire in a soothing silence, Fred stroking and twisting his fingers through the younger girl's hair, which she had taken out of it's twists and knots before entering the common room. After a while he noticed her breathing had gotten heavier and after checking, he realised she was actually asleep. As gently as he could, he moved her body round so she could stretch out without ending up in the fire. He then lay down beside her with her head some how, still resting on his chest. She let out a small groan in her sleep before shifting slightly and wrapping an arm around the boy. Slowly, he too fell asleep to the calming and rhythmic sounds of Ella's breathing and the fire quiet tranquil cracks and pops.


	17. Chapter 17

Fred awoke to the sound of muffled laughter close by him. Wearily, he forced one of his eyes open to find the source of the disruption. He realised it must have still been quite early as it was only just getting light outside. Then he saw his twin sat upright on the sofa closest to the pair who had been previously sleeping. Next to George, sat Angelina, Lee Jordan and Katie Bell.

"What the hell?" Fred demanded, annoyed by his rude awakening. Ella had began to stir next to him, still tightly huddled into his chest.

"Morning," George said cheerfully, with the full intention of winding his brother up. The rest of the sofa couldn't hold back their laughs much longer.

"What the fuck?" Ella said groggily, half awake, aware of the intrusion. Her grumpiness in the mornings was nearly as famous as her strong powers.

"Floor's comfy, is it?" Lee joined in with the teasing.

"Oh fuck off," Fred snapped, turning away from the group and pulling Ella in closer to him.

The others realised they obviously weren't finding the whole situation as funny as they were so they got up and headed upstairs.

"I'm sorry," Fred whispered softly into the girl's hair as her head rested against his chest.

"It's fine," She replied, taking a deep breath to smell the boy's musky, aromatic scent. They lay their together, kept warm by the other's embrace for about an hour before they were interrupted once more. They heard the sounds of footsteps, clambering noisily down the stairs.

"Bloody hell," Ella heard one voice say that sounded distinctly familiar but she couldn't remember whose it was. A second voice appeared, only this one sounded angrier and Ella recognised it instantly.

"You CANNOT tell me that you two are _just friends_," Harry announced loudly, "Being found asleep with one another three times is not what _just friends _do."

The pair sat up to look at the boys which had just entered. The first boy to enter had been Ron, closely followed by Harry.

"Harry, I'm sorry," Ella started, getting up and making her way over to her brother.

"Look, don't worry. I'm not just messing her around." Fred put in, trying to be helpful.

"I know how it must look, Harry, but Fred and I _are_ just very good friends," Ella said. Harry just rolled his eyes in response. Ella, however, didn't notice Fred's face drop when she said this. He had hoped that she might just finally admit she liked him back after the previous night. That was, if she even did like him, Fred thought to himself.

Later that day, with their cases packed for just over a week, the Weasleys and Harry, Hermione and Ella were ready to floo to the burrow.

"Why do you look so nervous?" Fred asked, the increasingly paling, Ella, teasing her. He grabbed her by the waist and threw her over his shoulder, using one hand to stop her from squirming away and the other to tickle her relentlessly.

"Fred!" She squealed, laughing. "Put me down you idiot," She managed to say through her now close to hysterical laughter.

"So go on then. Why are you a little nervous wreck," Fred persisted, now he had gotten the girl back to her relaxed self.

"Well...it's kinda intimidating meeting your parents isn't. They knew my parents...they knew me. What if I disappoint them. I'm not that little sweet girl your mum remembers," She confessed quietly so the others wouldn't hear her, blushing a deep red.

"Well I think you still are," Fred said, his warm brown eyes meeting her dazzling green ones.

"You guys ready?" George asked, interrupting their gaze.

"Errmm, sure," Fred stuttered, looking around him to realise the rest of the group, aside from the three of them, had already gone. "You first Ella," He said grinning at her. She nodded before stepping into the fireplace in the head master's office (the only fireplace hooked up to the floo network in the school), taking a handful of floo powder. With a flash of green light she was gone.

"Guess it's your turn then," Fred said, turning to his twin but all he got in response was a raised eyebrow as George stood staring at him. "What?!" Fred demanded irritably, knowing exactly what his brother was referring to.

"So are you going to tell me what happened between you two last night or are you going to just go on pretending like nothing happened?" George questioned his brother.

"Well that's what Ella seems to be doing so that's what I may as well do," Fred said, looking at the ground going red.

"Oh." George said bluntly, "I see then. What actually happened?"

"Well we danced all night, and oh Georgie it was amazing. Then when the last song finished I kissed her, but this time she didn't pull away. In fact she kissed me back, and she was sober this time. Then we just came up to the common room and fell asleep in front of the fire." Fred said in a dreamy voice, thinking back to the previous night.

"She's got you bad mate," George laughed at the sight of his renowned stud of the school, twin falling in love with a girl who hadn't even shown any signs of liking him back.

"I know," Fred said, almost miserably" I just wish she would admit she liked me because I know she does. No one, and I mean no one, not even me, can kiss that good and not mean it. Anyway, anything happen between you and Angelina last night?"

"Oh," George said happily, as if he had forgotten the previous night before his twin had prompted him, "I took her back to our room and I knew you were still downstairs with Ella and Lee was probably banging that Ravenclaw lass somewhere, so I shagged her."

Fred just laughed at his twin's bluntness, "So was she what you were hoping?" Fred teased.

"Oh and more, Freddie. I think I might actually want to see her again," George gushed. "Anyway, we best get back to the burrow before the others wonder where we are." Fred nodded in agreement and followed his brother into the fireplace with their trunks.

As Fred and George tumbled out of the fireplace, they were bombarded by Mrs Weasley.

"Boys, who's that girl that arrived just before you? Are one of you dating her? How come you've never mentioned her before? Is she this surprise guest you were banging on about? And why the hell did you two take so much longer than the others?" Mrs Weasley demanded, leaving the twins unsure of which question to answer first. They just stood looking at one another, then their mother, and then to each other again, before they heard a voice pipe up behind her.

"I'm sorry Mrs Weasley," Ella came out from their living room and into the kitchen, "I never introduced myself, I was actually waiting for the boys to arrive. Anyway, I'm Elspeth Potter." She said, waiting for Mrs Weasley's reaction. But she just stood staring opening and closing her mouth without anything more than a slight squeak coming out.

"Wha...what?" She finally managed to get out. "So you're Lily and James daughter? And Harry's sister? The one that we all thought was dead?" She asked stunned.

"Yeah, I suppose I am," Ella shrugged. Molly let out a large gasp as though it was finally sinking in and ran forward, wrapping in a bone crushing hug.

"Oh darling!" She exclaimed, "I can't believe it! You're okay!" She finally let go of the girl, looking her up and down. "And oh my, haven't you grown up to be a beauty, just like your mother. You look just like her. Except for your hair, that looks ever so like your fathers," She laughed, remembering her old friend's dark, unruly hair that both his children had managed to inherit. "Oh well, I've got a surprise for you then. It was going to be a surprise for Harry but I suppose it's kind of for both of you now," Just as she spoke Sirius Black sauntered around the corner with a large grin when he saw Ella.

"My, my, haven't grown up," Sirius let out a low warm chuckle before making his way over to her and wrapping his arms around her. "How are you?"

"I'm good thanks,"

"Good, good. I need to speak to you privately later about Karkaroff if that's okay," He half asked, with a reassuring smile. Fred rolled his eyes and scowled at the Durmstrang headmaster's name, which didn't go unnoticed.

"Yeah of course," Ella smiled back. And with that Harry appeared from the living room, followed by Ron and Hermione.

"Did I hear Sirius?" He enquired before his godfather stepped out from behind the twins. "Sirius!" He strode forward, receiving a firm hug from him.

"How have things been, after the first task I mean," Sirius asked him, "Do you have any clue who might have entered you yet?"

"No, can't think," Harry chewed on his lip nervously.

After all introductions had been made, the group went their various ways into their assigned rooms. Sirius was sleeping in Charlies old room, Harry with Ron as usual, and due to Ginny's room already having herself and Hermione in, Ella was put in Bill's old room. Mrs Weasley had made a delicious stew for dinner which left the whole house smelling delightful. The burrow wasn't half as grand as the accommodation at Beauxbatons or the room's on the ship but it was sure as hell a lot nicer and more welcoming, Ella thought. A while after dinner, most of the group had gone to bed or at least retired to their rooms. Left in the kitchen, was Sirius, Ella, Harry and Fred.

"Tell me everything you know about Karkaroff," Sirius stated plainly, not making any effort to hide his agender. Several years ago, Karkaroff had been let out of azkaban due to his claims of being under the imperius curse whilst he served lord Voldemort in the last wizarding war. "How did you meet him?" Sirius asked, more precisely seeing Ella struggling with where to begin.

"Well, it was last year when I was on the run from Beauxbatons, and after he realised I was homeless he gave me some money and I ran. Our paths crossed for a second time and this time I was in a much worse situation, so he took me into his flat and I lived there all summer whilst he arranged for me to transfer to Durmstrang." She finished. Fred huffed and looked at Ella sternly but she tried to ignore it.

"Do you know if he's been meeting up with any other wizards that used to be death eaters?" Sirius asked bluntly.

"I...I...I don't really know," She admitted, slightly shakily at the thought of her abusive headmaster, "He did meet up with a lot of people while I was at his and I know he brought different men back that he referred to as business deals. I also know what he did to those men when a business deal would fall through. I can't tell you if he is still a death eater, but I can say that it wouldn't be out of character, if he were to be one," She shuddered at the thought of what Igor would do if he ever found out about this conversation.

"Have you ever noticed a tattoo on his arm. The dark mark to be precise," Sirius interrogated.

Ella nodded, "I have, it's faded but it's still there,"

"What's he like in general?" Sirius asked, coming to an end of his long string of questions.

"Well he's not a particularly pleasant character most of the time but he did get me off the streets so I'll leave it at that." She heard Fred scoff and didn't dare look him in the eye. She could feel his eyes burning into the side of her head, furiously.

"That's all you're going to say?" Fred snapped, failing to keep a restraint on his temper. "Are you not going to tell them in what way he wanted you to earn your keep? How he carried on after summer? About what he tried to do to you?!"

Ella looked up, tears streaming down her face by this point.

"Fred, stop. Please." She pleaded.

"I'm going to bed," He announced, kicking the chair under the table and storming up the stairs.

"Ella, what _did_ he do?" Harry asked, gravely concerned. He knew Fred Weasley had a temper but he had never seen him fly off on one like he had just done just for mentioning a man's name,

"Tell us," Sirius stretched out his hand, across the table, and placed it reassuringly on her arm.

"I...I...I slept with him. I felt in debt to him and when he suggested a way to repay him one night, I obliged. But then he didn't stop the affair when we came to school. I kept trying to push him away and one night I was a bit too blunt to him and he lost his temper," Ella trailed off.

"WHAT did he do?!" Harry asked, his temper also flaring at the thought of his sister being taken advantage while she was so vulnerable.

"He tried to rape me," Ella finally admitted, her crying growing ever heavier.

"I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!" Harry shouted, slamming his hand against the table.

"Harry, calm down. You're not helping anyone," Sirius said soothingly, before standing up and walking over to Ella, pulling her up off her chair, into a comforting embrace, stroking her hair in attempt to calm her down. Harry sat down, still fuming.

"But I'll tell you what we are going to do," Sirius said, wiping the tears of Ella's delicate face, who was now looking up at him.

"We're going to speak to Dumbledore, and we're going to get you transferred to Hogwarts as soon as possible." He said. Ella nodded and Harry also seemed to think this was a good idea. "This way we'll keep you with us and away from that filthy bastard," Ella sighed and moved away.

"Thanks you two but if you don't mind, I'm going to go up to bed. I'm shattered." She said, before departing up the stairs to her appointed room.

Once in another one of Viktor's shirts, which came to halfway down her thigh, she started to cross the hall to the bathroom, when she collided with something solid. She gasped slightly as she looked up to see a shirtless Fred. She stared, almost longingly, at his toned, ripped chest, before her line was broken when he began to speak.

"I'm so sorry for what I said down there," He said, pulling her into a strong embrace. The feel of his bare skin burnt against her. She went slightly dizzy at the smell of musky smell of aftershave. She breathed it in hungrily.

"It's fine," She managed to say in a stunned whisper. Fred laughed, releasing her.

"And don't pretend you weren't completely checking me out before. I saw you staring." He teased, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

"I should really just brush my teeth and go to bed," She said, pushing past the boy hurriedly, yawning particularly obviously so he got the message she was tired. The way he had made her feel just then, terrified her to a point she couldn't ignore. She had never really felt like that around a boy before. In fact she had only ever had one proper boyfriend before that she had actually really liked. But that hadn't ended well, leading to her normally running for the hills, the second she started to develope feelings for a boy. But Fred was different. She couldn't just run away from him. She tossed and turned all that night, replaying how his skin had felt against her, again and again as she drifted in and out of a disturbed sleep.


	18. Chapter 18

**Warning! There is some lemon in this chapter, but I've decided I'm not a big fan of writing that so there won't be too many scenes like that, at least not for a while after this one. Happy reading, and remember to keep reviewing :) **

**xoxo -C **

Ella turned over, her body positively aching from her lack of sleep, and saw it was growing light outside. She got out of bed sluggishly, grabbing a glass Mrs Weasley had left her on top of the dresser, on her way to the bathroom. She filled it up from the tap, before turning and leaning against the sink heavily, downing the water.

"Someone's thirsty," Fred stated mockingly, entering the bathroom. He walked over towards sink, leaning over Ella to get his tooth brush, sandwiching her between his solid, bare chest and the basin. Once again, she was pleasantly overpowered by the scent of his musky cologne fragrance, she went to take a deep breath in to inhale it, but caught herself and shook her head.

"Do you _never_ wear a shirt?" She snapped irritably, squeezing out from between the broad shouldered boy and sink.

"Got you all hot and flustered have I?" He laughed as her cheeks flushed a deep crimson.

"Don't be an idiot. It's not attractive," She snapped, not appreciating the humiliation.

"You really aren't a morning person are you," He grinned, pulling her back towards him by the arm, "now what can we do to make you smile this morning, grumpy," He ambushed her, grabbing her by the waist, tickling her mercilessly.

"Fred!" She squealed, now laughing.

"Ah ha!" He exclaimed, relenting his torture, "I saw a smile and it's before 9 o'clock," he grinned and looked at her in a way that made Ella's stomach do a somersault, before slowly taking a step towards her.

"You must be _that_ funny then," She grinned goofily back, barely aware he was walking her closer and closer to the wall.

"Maybe I should just drop out of school and become a comedian," He stopped walking as her back was now pressed against the wall.

"Oh, I was laughing at you, not with you," She teased him, suddenly aware of the mere centimetres between their bodies. Fred leant down close to her, so she could feel his hot breath on her ear.

"Well, we'll have to sort that out, won't we," He whispered, chuckling softly.

"Fred, you've not been using my toothbrush again have you?" George Weasley came bustling into the bathroom. "Shit, sorry," He jolted when he saw the pair on the fair bathroom wall. "I'll just be grabbing my toothbrush and going down to Ginny and Ron's bathroom then,"

"No, no. It's fine, you stay George. I was just going to go downstairs for some breakfast," Ella pulled away, realising how quickly things had escalated. She kept telling herself that they were just friends, just like her and George, except they had kissed a couple of times. Fred just groaned and slumped against the wall before glaring at his twin.

"Sorry mate, I genuinely didn't mean to ruin your game this time,"

"Do you know how close I was," He groaned into his hands, kicking the wall where he had previously had Ella pressed up against.

"If it's any consolation, the look on her face when she left the room showed she's definitely into you," George tried to comfort his brother. However, this statement just seemed to cause more frustration.

* * *

Later that day, around the dinner table, neither Fred nor Ella participated in the general chatter that they would normally be at the heart of. Most of the adults had retired to the living room, leaving the kids to chat over their hot cocos. Ella was staring at coco, not daring to look up incase she came into eye contact with Fred. She thought about what having him that close to her, this morning, had made her feel like. _But she had been that close to him before, hell she'd kissed him twice before _she thought. She had kissed him before, but all of a sudden she had an overwhelming desire to kiss him, that she just couldn't explain. She was interrupted from her thoughts by Sirius tapping her on the shoulder from behind her, signalling her to move into the other room with him. She stood up and followed him, casting a glance around the table as she did so. When she looked at Fred, he saw and shot her a discreet wink, making her blush fiercely as she left the room.

"Everything alright?" Sirius asked her, confused as to what had made her blush so strongly.

"Yeah, yeah," She said, turning her head away in an attempt to hide her increasingly brightening red cheeks from Sirius. He just raised one of his eyebrows and let out a loud hearty laughed.

"Anyway, I wanted to let you know I wrote to professor Dumbledore straight away last night about transferring you and I this arrived this morning," He waved a sealed letter addressed to himself, "and as you can see I haven't opened it yet. I thought I would leave the honors to you," He said, handing the letter over to Ella whose hand was now shaking slightly with nerves.

_Dear Sirius,_

_Thank you for your letter. I appreciate that you can't tell me why you think it necessary for Miss Elspeth to move so quickly but I would ask if it is anything that will affect either her own or another one of my students safety, that you think carefully about it. However in response to your question, Hogwarts will of course welcome her with open arms as there is always a place at Hogwarts for one in need. I will see that the correct procedures are all carried out to make the transition as smooth as possible and when she returns to school she shall be provided with a Hogwarts uniform and timetable immediately, and as for the sorting issue, seen as both her parents and her brother, not mentioning I have noticed Miss Elspeth has befriended a lot of the house's members, I think it would be wise to put her into Gryffindor. However, one issue I did remember is that once she is registered with an English school, Miss Elspeth will need an official legal guardian as she is underage in the eye's of both the muggle and wizarding law. I am aware that Lily and James set Remus Lupin as her godfather, so that to me would be an easier choice as it shows her parents approval of the candidate but it is ultimately up to Miss Elspeth. Finally, I will be speaking to Barty Crouch about this but I would assume she would have to carry competing in the tournament for Durmstrang as opposed to Hogwarts but I will send word when I know for definite._

_Kind Regards,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

Ella couldn't believe what she had just read. She really was going to be moving to Hogwarts, the one place she'd been happy in as long as she could remember. It meant that she could stay with her family and that she didn't have to leave with Igor at the end of this year. She looked up at Sirius in disbelief.

"This isn't a joke letter is it?" She gasped.

"Not at all. In two weeks you will officially be a Hogwarts student and Karkaroff won't be able to touch you,"

"Oh my god, thank you _so_ much Sirius!" She started crying and ran at and leapt on him, gripping him in a tight hug.

"Just promise me one thing, Ella," He said, suddenly serious, making her step away to get a proper look at him.

"What is it?" She asked, half worried.

"Keep up the Potter reputation your father set. Cause as much mayhem as possible and never _ever_ give in on something you believe in. Understand?" He asked, with a hand on the younger girl's shoulder. Ella broke out into a huge grin and nodded.

The pair walked back into the kitchen, where they were met with expectant looks from everyone still around the table, after hearing a bit of a commission. Ella sat down and went back to eating her cereal.

"Well..." Harry said, speaking on behalf of the whole table.

"Well what?" Ella asked, finishing her mouthful, loving how much their curiosity was torturing them.

"What in Merlin's name was all that about to make you come in here with a huge goofy grin," George butted in getting impatient.

"Oh, that." She said, pretending to just catch on. "Oh, well, Sirius received a letter from Professor Dumbledore this morning basically I'm going to officially be Hogwarts student and Gryffindor in just under two weeks," She said casually shrugging.

"WHAT?!" Ginny yelled, running over to Ella to drag her out of her seat and hugging her.

"That's amazing!" George got out of his seat to also hug the girl who was now laughing slightly uncontrollably in her euphoria. The rest of the group followed in suit, congratulating her and patting her on the back.

"I'm going to go and break the good news to the others," Sirius taking his cue to rejoin the adults.

The group sat around the table chatting excitedly, with such high spirits it felt as though not a single one of them could feel sad or miserable ever again. By the time it was reaching midnight, Mrs Weasley came into the kitchen to send them to bed. Ella, Fred and George were the last to leave after helping Molly wash the chocolate stained mugs. As the three of them started to climb the last set of stairs (seeing as they were on the top floor there was a fair few sets) when Fred elbowed his twin sharply in the ribs behind Ella's back. George let out a gasp of pain and shock. Ella turned around and raised her eyebrows.

"You alright, George?" She asked half laughing at the boy.

"Shit, I left something up there," Was all he replied before sprinting up the stairs at full speed and diving into the room which he shared with his twin.

"Wonder what's up with him," Fred played the bewildered bystander as the pair slowly carried on climbing up the stairs. Ella just chuckled softly. "You do realise that now you go to Hogwarts you will have your own bed and I'm going to have no one to kick me out of mine," Fred teased.

"Don't worry, I will always kick you out of your bed just because I can,"

"Oh yeah? What gives you that impression?" He nudged her arm hard, nearly causing her to lose balance. "See, not even Elspeth Potter can beat up the mighty Fred Weasley." Ella quickly ran at Fred, close to crying with laughter, to try and throw him off of his balance. However, he didn't budge. She went to do it again, except as she close to him, he grabbed her by the waist, spun her around to face him and used his own body to press her up against the banister.

"Seriously, though. I need you to promise me that you're going to be careful when we go back to school," Fred said, looking her straight in the eye. "We both know, that Karkaroff is going to be less than pleased, and...and..." He either didn't actually know what Karkaroff might do or he just couldn't bring himself to admit the girl whom he had grown to care so much for could be in danger.

"Shhh," Ella pressed an outstretched finger to his lip. His lips felt soft and warm against her skin. "I will be careful," She reassured him, "and I've always got you fighting my corner." There faces were now a matter of inches away from each other. Ella could feel Fred's hot, sweet breath on her face.

"That filthy bastard won't come near you, if I can help it," He stated strongly, causing Ella to giggle. "But there's one thing I am scared for you about, and there's nothing I can do," He admitted.

"What's that?" She asked, looking up at him, her emerald eyes sparkling in the low candle light.

"The tournament. The second task is soon and I've been losing sleep thinking about it. I couldn't bare for anything to happen to you," He trailed off, breaking the eye contact.

"Fred," She whispered. She delicately placed a hand either side of his head, fingering his hair lightly. He looked up to meet her gaze, at which point she pulled his head down until their lips met. He kissed her hungrily, grazing her upper thigh with one of hands and using the other to pull her waist closer to him. Ella felt dizzy. She had lost track of any thoughts she had had in her head and now she was fully consumed with thoughts of Fred Weasley. His hand slid down her thigh and picked up leg, allowing access to her at a new angle.

"Tell me one thing first," Ella said through pants, as Fred caressed her neck with his tongue.

"What?" He panted between kisses.

"Admit that you made George leave early 'cause you were planning this," She laughed. He came up from her neck and moved the hand from around her waist, to hold her head.

"I did, but I still meant everything I said," He said, refusing to break eye contact.

"I know," She took hold of his hand and squeezed out of between Fred and the banister. She led him up the rest of the stairs and turned left into her room.

"You didn't think we were going to have sex out there did you?" Ella laughed at Fred's surprised expression.

"I just wasn't...I mean..." She broke him off by kissing him softly, before walking closer to the bed, removing her hoodie, leaving her in a low slung vest top and a pair of tight jeans. She felt his hands grab her waist and spin her around to face him. His lips crashed onto hers in a desperate hunger for her, leaving her with passion bruised lips. As the kiss got more intense, Ella felt her hips buck against Fred. That seemed to be the only encouragement he needed. He groaned into her lips. The kiss broke momentarily, to remove Ella's top, to reveal her red lace bra. She kicked off her jeans, so she was just stood in her underwear. Fred stood back for a moment, admiring her gorgeous figure, which went in and out in all the right places. All of a sudden, his lips crashed once again to hers, fiercely, with a renewed desperation and hunger. Ella started to undo his shirt, throwing it on the end of the bed, whilst he placed chaste kisses down her neck to her collarbone, causing her to moan softly. Their lips met once again, before Ella moved her lips down his neck and defined torso, running her tongue, over his sensitive nipples, playfully teasing him. She undid his trousers, allowing them to drop to the floor. He picked her up effortlessly, as she wrapped her leg around his strong waist. Their bodies hot, writhing bodies moved perfectly in sync with one another. After being thrown onto the bed, to have Fred soon follow her, Ella removed her Bra slickly whilst Fred removed his boxers, unleashing his now rock hard length. He ripped her panties off her, with desire burning in his deep brown eyes. He used his fingers to rub her, now soaking, entrance.

"Fred," She moaned into his ear, close to cumming at his touch alone, "Please," She begged.

She felt him enter her slowly. She let out a loud groan as her body twitched in an almost painful bliss. Her hips subconsciously pushed closer to him. He grinned and chuckled at her eagerness, but none the less, took the sign and began thrusting into her. She felt so good around his member, he couldn't help but moan loudly himself. He soon threw all caution to the wind, and increased the pace until Ella was close to screaming. He felt her release as her inner muscles rippled around him, triggering his own release. His body collapsed, as he suddenly felt as though his weight had tripled. It took all the strength he could muster in his arms, for Fred to stop himself from squashing the girl. He rolled off her to the side, before pulling her hot sweaty body close to his.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Ella kissed his sweaty cheek, as she ravished in the warmth of their hot, steaming naked bodies, pressed close together.

"So, am I as good as legend says then?" Fred teased, regaining some of his energy.

"You were...satisfactory," Ella teased back, prodding his chest.

"It takes more than satisfactory for moaning like that. That is unless you're just particularly vocal," He laughed as the young girl tried to hit him, but he just caught her wrist and pulled her into another kiss. "If you don't feel like admitting how _amazing_ I was, let's hear your magic number," Fred chuckled, pulling Ella in so her head was nustling into his chest.

"What do you mean?" She laughed.

"How many people have you had sex with?" He asked again. Ella's smile faded and she sat up uncomfortably, pulling her knees to her chest.

"A few," She mumbled, not wanting to give exact figure, in fear of scaring him off, "but there's only really been three that have meant anything to me," She admitted.

"Who?" He asked, also sitting up, looking her directly in the eye as she tried to avoid all eye contact.

"Well there was my first, Damien Baudin. He was the flirtatious bad boy, who worked in the pub down in the closest village to Beauxbatons and my only ever proper boyfriend. I was so madly in love with him so I gave him my virginity just find out he was shagging three other girls from my school, the stupid git. Then there was Lucas Pelletier. He was my best friend, growing up and that was just a casual thing to help me get over Damien but it was still important to me all the same. And then there's you now, I guess."

"And who am I?" Fred kissed her temple, pulling her in once again so she was leant against him.

"You're the carefree, fun loving, womanising, prankster of the school along with your twin. At first, you _were _just a friend to me, and a really good one at that, but then I started to really care for you, and the more I was around more I realised how much I like you," She blushed, looking down.

"I really like you, Elspeth Potter. You're smart, funny and beautiful, not to mention your unreal body, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise," He put a finger under her chin, tilting her head up before placing a sweet, charming kiss on her lips.

"And outcomes the womaniser," She laughed, "besides, I haven't even got a decent body. I'm like a size 10. I'm hardly the size 6 super model bodies you've been with before" She looked away. This was the first time Fred truly saw how vulnerable and broken she was. She had been used and tossed aside for so long, she couldn't see her own beauty.

"You're much more gorgeous than any of them. You're not big in the slightest! You're certainly a hell of a lot sexier than any of the titless stick insects, and don't you ever let me catch you degrading yourself like that again," She just nodded and kissed him again. Her pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss

"So am I not going to get a specific number off you then," He said, remembering back to his earlier question.

"Put it this way, it probably won't go anywhere near yours," She lied but he just shrugged and grinned, pulling Ella closer, lying down. The pair fell into a sweet sound sleep.

* * *

"Rise and shine, campers," George Weasley waltzed into Ella's bedroom, amused by the startled look of the pair as the hurriedly fumbled around with the bed sheets to make sure they were decent.

"What the fuck, George?" Fred groaned.

"Have a good night last night, did you?" George grinned a knowing grin.

"Well, yes thank you, we did," Ella said smirking.

"I know you did," George couldn't help himself, "I could hear what a brilliant time you were both having from my room. Particularly you, Ella," He snorted as both their faces turned a bright crimson and they looked to the floor.

"We forgot to put a silencing charm on the door," Ella whispered, more to herself, completely mortified.

"Don't worry, young one. After I could hear _exactly_ what was going on, I came and put one on from the outside for you. It would be ridiculously awkward for everyone, if mum and dad were to have heard you," Ella muttered a thanks, still too embarrassed to look up at either boy.

"Fred you should probably come back to our room, Mum's on her wake up rounds," George said urgently as he heard his mum on the floor below.

"Shit," Fred sprang out of bed, covering himself until he got his underwear on. "Thanks, Georgie," He pulled on his jeans and crumpled his shirt in his hands, deciding he didn't have time to put it on and it wasn't particularly necessary. Before departing the room, Fred walked over to the bed, and kissed Ella passionately. Even after the previous night, his kiss still made her dizzy, his musky smell flooding her nostrils. "See you at breakfast," He sent her a quick wink before charging across the hall and into his own bed before his mother saw him.

* * *

Around the breakfast table, Ella refused to make eye contact with George for fear of blushing furiously, which would cause lots of unnecessary questions to be asked. Every time she caught the eye of Fred, who was sat near the other end of the table, he would wink or give her a huge smile, not afraid of who noticed.

"You two have a good night last night, then?" Sirius chuckled, quietly in the chair to Ella's left.

"What?!" She gasped, choking slightly on her toast. "H...how did you know?" She asked, praying to God that George had put the charm on the room before anyone else had heard them.

"I was on my way up to bed, when I saw you two, stood, talking on the stairs, looking very close and cosy," He nudged her playfully, "Then judging by the looks getting sent down your way this morning, it didn't end there," He wound her up.

"Siriuss!" She groaned, laughing at his lack of subtleness. "Be quiet, don't let him hear," She nodded towards Harry, who was sat on her other side, engrossed in a conversation about quidditch with Ron

"It can be our little secret," He grinned.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

In the next week before going back to school, Fred and Ella met up to talk away from the rest of the group, on several occasions. They would often stay up late talking with George in the twins or enjoy more intimate situations in Ella's room. The evening before they were due to arrive back at school, as the sun was setting, the pair sat under a large oak tree, situated on the bank of the lake. The setting sun cast a deep red light of the burrow and its grounds. Ella rested her head contently on Fred's shoulder as they sat and talked.

"I think we've got an audience," Fred laughed, pointing over to the window from the kitchen, where Ginny, Harry and Ron were gawping at them, probably speculating what was going on between the pair. Ella laughed, and lifted her head to look at the boy.

"What do you want to do then?"

"Well, we could go inside if you want, dinner's probably nearly ready," Fred suggested.

"Not that," Ella laughed, "I meant, about us, I mean, I never really had you down as the relationship type but then neither was I,"

"You're right, I never really was but with you, everything just feels right,"

"Then kiss me," Ella said, glancing back at the window. Fred obliged, placing a soft kiss on her sweet tasting lips, running his hands through her wild yet soft hair, which had an auburn glow in the sunset light.

"What was all that about?" Fred asked with a chuckle.

"Well, they'll now bring the subject up," Ella said, referring to the trio stood at the window, whose mouths were now moving rapidly, gossiping about what they had just witnessed, "which will lead nicely into me announcing you as my boyfriend," She kissed him again, but only short and sweet, still painfully aware they had an audience.

"Come on, we best get to dinner," Fred said, standing up as he heard his mum shout everyone to the table.

Mrs Weasley had prepared a Sunday roast, complete with a large succulent roast chicken and Yorkshire puddings, in a bid farewell to the kids until the summer. Ella and Fred received expecting looks from the rest of the kids around the table, when they came.

"So," Ron said bluntly, as the Mr and Mrs Weasley were hurrying around the kitchen, putting the final touches on the meal, "you got something to tell us?" He asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. Sirius sat at the head of the table, chuckling at the simplicity of young love.

"Yes, we do," Ella answered simply.

"In fact, we've got something to tell you all," Fred put in, indicating to his parents to sit down as the dinner was ready.

"Well Fred and I, we're sort of a couple now," Ella said awkwardly, unsure of how best to phrase it.

"I knew it!" Harry exclaimed from opposite Ella. "I kept telling you that you two were more than '_just friends'_ " Ella kicked her brother under the table, to remind him that they were still in the presence of Mr and Mrs Weasley.

"That's wonderful news you two," Mrs Weasley gushed, rushing over to hug her son and his new girlfriend. "I hope you've finally got him on the straight and narrow my dear. You never know, both twins could even come out with some good N.E. next year, Arthur," She turned to her husband in excitement.

"Baby steps, Mum," George doubled over laughing at the thought of he and his twin actually doing any work at school. The rest of dinner went uneventfully, with everyone talking about what lay ahead when they returned to school. Mr Weasley quietly congratulated his son and gave him a pat on the back for his 'standards', whilst his wife's back was turned.

All the children were made to help clear the table and wash up the dishes, despite it being their last night of freedom from school. As much as they all complained about going back to school, secretly not a single one of them could wait. Fair enough, none of them, besides perhaps Hermione, were looking forward to long gruelling essays and mountains of homework, but they all saw Hogwarts as a second home or for Harry and Ella, an only home. After most the clearing up was done, Ella offered, with Sirius' help, to finish whilst the rest of them went and packed, as she seemed to be the only one who had so far. When all the others had all left the room, Sirius dropped the current conversation topic and nudged the younger girl playfully in the ribs.

"Managed to lock down the school stud then?" Sirius teased her, blowing some bubbles from the washing up bowl in her hair

"Hey!" She giggled trying to get him back, "He's not 'the school stud' he just never used to be the relationship kind, and neither did I," Ella said, looking out of the window, lost in thoughts.

"So what happened then?" Sirius asked, with an unusually serious tone for Sirius.

"It's going to sound stupid but he's just different. It just feels right," She blushed.

"It doesn't, I know what you mean," It was now Sirius' turn to get lost in his own thoughts.

"Are you telling me that the infamous Sirius Black, the heart throb and sleaze of my parent's generation, fell for a girl," She teased him, "go on then, what was her name?"

"You'll know her as Alice Longbottom. I believe her son, Neville is in your brother's year at Hogwarts?" Sirius said blandly, as he looked pensively out of the window.

"Yeah, he is. So what happened?"

"Well, I spent all my school years running round with your father, Remus and Peter," Ella noticed how Sirius spat the last name in disgust, "playing ingenious pranks, if I say so myself, and sleeping with a lot of girls. Your father used to be the same, only when he realised he loved Lily. I was in my sixth year, same age as Fred, when I had my chance with Alice. But I blew it. I loved my carefree lifestyle too much and didn't want to commit to anything with her, so of course she moved on and met Frank. It was only when she was with Frank, I realised how much I loved her. I tried to tell her, but she was happy. I suppose that made me happy enough to know she wasn't miserable. But then my evil cousin, Bellatrix, tortured her and she's still in St Mungo's till this day. Barely knows her own name…" He trailed off. For the first time, Ella was left speechless as she noticed a single tear roll down, his scarred, worn face. This man that she had always thought to be almost incapable of loving a girl in that way because there was just too many others to sleep with, was crying over a lost love.

"Oh Sirius," She whispered, wrapping her arms around his neck as she hugged him tight, "I had no idea,"

"It's fine," He broke off the hug and went back to gazing out of the window, into the pitch black.

* * *

**I know it's moving a bit slowly but it will start to move quicker now they've gotten together and we're back into the action of school, the tournament and of course the sleaze that is Igor :3 Keep reading and reviewing x**


	21. Chapter 21

The next evening, the Weasley children, Harry, Ella and Hermione stood next to the fireplace in the Weasley's sitting room, with their bags, saying their good byes. Mrs Weasley hugged each child, announcing how much she was going to miss each one of them, and telling them all to behave and to look after themselves.

"The house is so quiet without you lot, running around like a herd of elephants, now that Percy's consumed with his job at the ministry, Charlie's back in Romania and Bill's gone back to his work," She said, turning to her last hug left, Ginny, with a tear in her eye.

"Mum, you get emotional every time we leave the house at the minute," Ron grunted, rather unimpressed.

"It's what happens when you get old, Ronniekins" George taunted him and his mother.

"Fred Weasley!" She scorned him at his bluntness.

"Mum, I'm George," He ruffled his mother's hair, laughing obstreperously as she waved him away with her tea towel.

"Honestly woman, and you call yourself our mother," Fred joined in with the rambunctious behaviour.

"Get yourselves gone," Mrs Weasley waved them off, suddenly realising how much she had missed a bit of peace and quiet without having to expect plotting the minute the clamour and ruckus of the boy's above silenced.

Ella felt a firm, sturdy hand place on her shoulder. She turned to see Sirius, who had just sent Harry on his way with a farewell hug.

"You'll look after yourself won't you," Sirius gripped her in a tight embrace. Ella felt safe in his arms. A safeness, she had only ever experienced with Fred before, but the safety Sirius provided felt more like a protective older brother. He wasn't a fatherly figure to her, however. She decided he talked too openly about both his and her sex life to be classed as a sort of parent.

"I'll give it my best shot," She joked, separating from the hug.

"I'll arrange with Dumbledore for Remus to arrive at school sometime, so you can comfortably approve him being your legal guardian. If that's okay? And remember to write to me the second you find out any more information on the second task," Sirius said as she stepped into the fireplace.

"Of course it's okay. Thanks for everything Sirius, I'll make sure I write," She said as she threw down the floo powder, anxiously anticipating her arrival back at Hogwarts, to start her first term as a student there.

* * *

"Ah, Miss Potter," She was greeted with a wise, soothing voice, as she stumbled out of the fireplace and into the large office of the Hogwarts' headmaster. "The others are already on their way to is Professor McGonagall, your new transfiguration professor and head of house," He introduced the tall women, with black hair in a tight bun, which Ella remembered from the Ball.

"Nice to meet you, professor," Ella shook McGonagall's outstretched hand.

"As you," Professor McGonagall replied. She struck Ella as the kind of woman who didn't fuss much over all the pleasantries and just got to the point. "I have taken the liberty of getting you a uniform and I trust you are happy with our decision to skip sorting and placing you in Gryffindor due to all your previous family for generations, belonging to the same house."

"Yes, very happy," Ella couldn't help herself from grinning. It was really happening. She was really joining the one place that she had been completely happy at. "And thank you for the uniform," She added politely.

"Follow me," She said briskly, walking swiftly over to the exit. Ella glanced over at Professor Dumbledore, who winked and chuckled, bidding the girl a good night. "I will show you the way to the common room, give you the password and direct you to which room you'll be sleeping in,"

"Oh, I already know the…" Ella stopped herself suddenly, knowing how much trouble the boys and her brother would be in for continuously inviting a non-Gryffindor into their common room.

"Know what, dear?" Professor McGonagall asked, confusion creasing her face.

"Doesn't matter, professor," She said quickly, before they carried on down the hallways.

* * *

Once they reached the common room, Professor gave a quick verbal tour of the Gryffindor tower and turned to walk out.

"Oh and Miss Potter," She turned on her heal, "I nearly forgot, here is your timetable for this year," She handed over a sheet of paper, "You will see that you will not take all classes with your own year group. In fact, seen as you're a very bright girl and the Durmstrang and Beauxbaton's programmes work slightly differently to our own, you will be taking a lot of your classes with the year group above your own." She finished before bidding Ella, and the rest of the remaining students milling around the common room, a good night.

As the portrait closed behind McGonagall, Ella let out a small squeal of excitement and clung the sheet of paper to her chest.

"Oi, you!" George called across the room to her.

"We've saved you a seat," Fred finished, both patting a space between them on the sofa facing the fire. Ella rolled her eyes, mockingly, before running over and jumping over the back of the sofa, landing hazardously between the boys, narrowly avoiding kicking them.

"Steady on," George laughed at the younger girl's childlike excitement at school.

"What lessons you got tomorrow?" Fred asked, taking the sheet of paper out of her grasp and surveyed it. "Hey, we've got potions first thing tomorrow as well. How will that work?" Fred wondered, puzzled,

"Oh, Professor McGonagall just told me that I will be taking some of my classes with you," She smiled.

"That's great!" Fred exclaimed, pulling his girlfriend into a warm, joyous hug kissing her lightly.

"What a brilliant way to start a new term," Lee Jordan mumbled sarcastically, leaning sullenly against the sofa which the others were sitting on. "Nothing says welcome back like a detention, an essay on Golpalott's third law and 15 points from Gryffindor because you breathed,"

"Oh, he can't be that bad, can he?" Ella enquired, highly amused by the severe dislike everyone seemed to harbour for this professor.

"He _really_ is!" Harry added, defiantly from the opposite side of the room.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

"Ella! Wake up, we've already been to breakfast. First class starts in 15 minutes!" A rather frantic Katie Bell shook the sleepy girl, desperately trying to wake her.

"Urghh, I'll go tomorrow. Too tired…" She groaned, burying her head in her pillow.

"Noo, Ella," Katie whined, before leaving the room. Much to Ella's dismay, when she returned, she had brought two red headed boys with her.

"Told you she was shit in a morning," Fred Weasley announced as he entered the room, laughing at the thought of his grumpy girlfriend making a brilliant impression on her new roommates as she bit their heads off.

"Come on, sleepy," George coaxed, prodding her in the back. She just completely blanked the boys' presence in the hope to spend a few more hours in bed.

"You've got five seconds to get up before we attack," Fred warned, humorously yet deadly serious.

"Nooooo," She groaned loudly from under the covers.

"1…" He teased as she started to squirm.

"2…" George continued, receiving a very similar response.

"Guys, don't you think this might be slightly harsh," Katie cautioned them nervously.

"Nope," Fred answered bluntly, "3…"

"4…" The boys were getting ready to pounce, "You're getting close, Ella." They burst into hysterical laughter as they heard an even louder groan as limbs started to flail around under the covers to warn off any potential predators.

"5!" Both twins shouted together, grapping her covers and dragging them from her. However, she just buried her head in her pillows even further.

"Right," Fred said, full of determination, "if you don't get up this is going over your head." He pulled out his wand and used a silent levitation charm on the jug of water next to Ella's bed, hovering it over her head. She looked up from her covers to see what she was being threatened with. Katie and the boys' couldn't hold in their laughter as her face dropped, and she jumped up quickly, still looking horrified.

"I'm up! I'm up!" She yelled, running to her boyfriend to wrestle his wand away from him.

"Right, we're going to love you and leave you to get ready. We'll meet you in the common room to show you to the dungeons," George waved as he walked out.

"Be quick. We've got to be at the dungeons in 10 minutes, and Snape hates everyone, but he might just hate you even more if you're late for your first lesson with him," Fred kissed her on the head before following his brother out.

Ella threw on her new uniform and robes, shoved her hair up in a high pony tail and slapped on a bit of eyeliner and foundation. She dashed down the stairs into the now deserted, other than the twins, common room.

"Here," George chucked her an apple they had nicked from the kitchen whilst they had been waiting for her.

The three of them made their way to the dungeons horridly, none of them wanting to face a gruelling long essay for being late. However, as they had feared, the class was already underway by the time they arrived.

"You're late!" Snape snarled as they tried to creep in. However, the only seats available had been at the front, making any sneaking of any kind incredibly difficult.

"Sorry, professor," Ella said casually, "it was my fault for being late but the boys had to show me where to go."

"And what are you even doing here?" He spat down at her.

"Did Professor Dumbledore not tell you? I've transferred here," She said cheerily.

"And you think yourself news worthy do you?" He sneered. "Right, we're making the draught of the living dead potion today. Do it badly and we'll be forced to test them out on in detention," He turned on his heal, swiftly walking over to the next bench, robes billowing behind him.

"Git," The three said together.

At the end of the class, Snape went round each caldron to test the student's concoctions by dropping in a single leaf. He came to Ella last, her evidently being most hated as the twins had warned.

"Oh, I seem to have ran out of leaves," He said in a false disappointment, "looks as though it wouldn't do much anyway," He peered, dismissively into her cauldron, "best pour it down the drain." The Slytherins sniggered distastefully.

Not a problem, professor," Ella pasted a sickly false smile on her face. She held out her hand, palm facing upwards. The whole class watched in awe, as a small delicate lily formed in her palm, twisting and twirling beautifully.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Angelina asked, amazed.

"Oh, it's a little talent I inherited from…"

"Your mother," Snape said, close to a whisper.

"Yes, my mother," Ella repeated, confused about the potions professor's reaction. His, already fair, face, drained of all colour it had had previously and his hand began to shake ever so slightly.

"Test it, then," He said, pulling himself together slightly. Ella dropped the small lily into her potion and watched as it burnt and crumpled into ash.

"Well…" Snape stuttered, stunned and annoyed at being proved wrong, "It seems you may have got lucky with that one," He said, coldly, before dismissing the class.

"Finally, someone showed that bastard up!" George patted Ella on the back triumphantly, the second they got out of earshot of Snape, as they wound their way through the dark, damp corridors of the dungeons.

"I knew you could do it, grumpy," He avoided her fist as it swung his way for the use of her new nick name the twins had come up with due to her bright and cheery persona in a morning. Much to Ella's annoyance, it seemed to be catching.

Their laughter was soon interrupted by a furious looking Igor, marching straight towards them, scowling.

"Potter, a word," He spat savagely, grabbing her by the upper arm, pulling into an empty classroom. "She'll meet you in the next class," He barked at the stunned 6th years, stood gawping.

"What is it?!" She demanded, heat rising throughout her body furiously.

"What the fuck do you think you are wearing?!" He snarled, indicating to her robes.

"My _new _uniform," She smirked slyly, much unlike her normal character, but when it came to Igor, anything she did to aggravate him, satisfied her deeply. He slammed his hand against the wall she was backed onto, inches from her head.

"You stupid girl!" He fulminated. "Do you not realise how bad this looks on me? One of my champions doesn't even want to stay at their own school?!"

Ella was suddenly flashed back to the last time he had had her this close, against a wall. Her anger slowly began to be replaced by fear as she began to realise what a dangerous predicament she had put herself in. However, she couldn't help but wind him further.

"Do you not remember all I did for you?" He snapped her out of her thoughts.

"I think I've paid you back sufficiently, don't you? Little pervert," She spat. Before she could take what she had said, his fist slammed against her jaw.

"Think you're so clever, do you?" He laughed callously as blood began to drip from her mouth.

"Igor," She began, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

"Don't even speak to me you slut!" He was nearly screaming, shaking in his rage. Without warning, another fist hit her directly on the eye, causing her to double over in pain. As she gasped for a breath through the searing pain and blood. Karkaroff, slammed her against the wall, forcing her to straighten up, by her shoulders.

"I'm not done with you," He growled. He raised his fist to hit her once again, when the door swung open.

"Oh, I think you are done," Snape drawled lazily.


	23. Chapter 23

"Severus, I was just on my way to come see you," Karkaroff tried to redeem himself slightly, hastily wiping the blood off of his hand and onto his robes.

"Leave," Snape replied shortly, still showing no sign of emotion, not taking his glare off of the young girl now crumpled in a heap against the wall, on the floor, hopelessly attempting to wipe blood off of her face.

"Severus," Igor started.

"Now," He said in an eerie calmness. Igor quickly scuttled out of the room, without a glance back, shutting the door behind him.

For the first time since he had entered the room, Ella looked up at her potions professor.

"Thanks," She whispered, mustering all the strength she could find through the searing pain in her jaw and eye. He merely nodded and mumbled something undistinguishable, making his way over to her.

"Here," Snape offered his arm to the injured girl, to help her up. She took it graciously. "Let me have a look," He indicated to her injuries, using her index and middle finger to gently tilt her head up. His touch was much tenderer than she would have expected it to be, but Ella just assumed that it felt more so due what had just taken place. With a wave of his wand, Ella felt the blood that had been previously rushing out of her lip, slow down and the searing pain around her eye ease slightly.

"You're not a stupid girl so probably don't need me to explain why you shouldn't pursue Igor on this, just don't. Just keep out of his way," Snape warned. Ella nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. It would be foolish for her to go after a man who was obviously still tightly connected with other dark wizards, after what had happened at the Quidditch world cup. However, she couldn't shake the feeling her friends and brother might have an opinion of a different sort.

"Is he still like that?" She asked him, half expecting him not to reply, but knowing the answer if he did. "You know, involved in dark magic,"

"I would think you a feel if you were to believe otherwise. People do not simply change overnight," He said, before muttering another spell under his breath with another wave of his wand. Ella could gradually feel her face to become less swollen and relieved of pain.

"That's about all I can do for you," Snape said finally.

"Thank you," She said kindly, looking him in the eye.

"Don't let me catch you provoking Karkaroff again," He said, suddenly turning back into the rude potions master who was infamous for his grumpy disposition and less than forgiving nature. He strode out the room, cloak billowing behind him. Any feelings of gratefulness or warmth she had been starting to build towards him as he heeled her injuries, disappeared the moment he implied that she had deserved what Igor did to her. In her new anger, she grabbed her back and headed to ancient ruins, thankful it was a class she took with her own year group, so there wouldn't be many questions asked.

* * *

The classes before lunched dragged. She had barely paid any attention due to the side of her face still throbbing. Katie had initially been very concerned as to what had happened to Ella's face but she decided not to press the matter when Ella muttered something vague about not looking where she was going. However, she knew this excuse would not fly with the twins and Angelina, who had witnessed her being dragged off by her old headmaster, in a fit of rage.

She arrived to lunch early with Katie, hoping she could finish before either her brother or the twins saw her. She knew she couldn't just avoid them but she could delay their questions, and at the minute that was all she wanted. She sat in their normal seats, grabbing a delicious looking cheese, chutney and apple sandwich. One of her favourite things about Hogwarts was the food. However, the happiness and comfort she found from the food was short lived, as she heard the twins, Angelina, Lee Jordan and Alicia Spinnet enter the hall rambunctiously.

"Ella!" Fred exclaimed, rushing over to sit next to her, "I was worried about you." Ella just stared down at the table, trying to use her hair to cover her injuries as best as possible. "You alright?" He asked, as she didn't respond to him. Ella nodded, still refusing to look. "What's up?" He pulled her into the warmth and comfort of his chest.

"It's nothing," She said, finally looking up to meet her boyfriend's gaze. His faced suddenly flooded with anger at the bruises and cuts.

"Don't tell me he did this to you," Fred whispered, dangerously.

"Fred," She could feel the tears swimming in her eyes, fiercely fighting to break out down her face.

"I'm going to flaming KILL him!" He exclaimed loudly, attracting unwanted attention.

"Not here, please," Ella begged him to calm down.

"Okay," He stood up, taking her hand and pulling her close to him. They quickly walked out of the hall, heads down, to attract as little attention as possible. They would their way through busy corridors, trying to find somewhere quiet.

"Here," Fred said, finally, pulling Ella into a small passage, "It's a secret passage, no one knows about this apart from me, George, Harry and you now I guess," He said reassuringly.

"Thanks," Ella whispered, still gripping his hand tightly. Feeling how violently her hand was shaking, Fred wrapped Ella up in his arm, just holding her close. Ella started sobbing into Fred's musky scented chest, as his arms provided safety and comfort.

After a while, Ella pulled away from the hug wiping away the tear tracks, staining her bruised and torn skin.

"I know it's hard, but please tell me what happened," Fred said, taking a hold of her lower arms gently reassuring her. "Was it Karkaroff?" Fred spat his name in disgust, knowing the answer before she even opened her mouth. She nodded in response as the words seemed to be stuck in her throat.

"He was angrier than we anticipated at my transfer," She sniffed, trying to recompose herself.

"If I ever get my hands on him, he won't live to tell the tale," Fred growled, pulling Ella into another tender, serene embrace.

"Are they really obvious?" Ella said, referring to her injuries, self-consciously pulling a small makeup mirror out of a pocket in her robe. Her eye was now dark and quite severly swollen and her bottom lip was mildly inflamed, with a large to the left of the centre.

"You're still the most beautiful girl in the school," Fred pulled her in, pressing her lips against his own.

"owww," She muttered, quickly pulling out of the tender kiss, pressing her hand to her bottom lip. "I'm sorry," She said ashamed of her injuries.

"It's fine," Fred gave her a reassuring smile, "I'm taking you to the hospital wing to see if there's anything Madame Pomfrey can do for you and once she's taking care of you, I'll run and get your brother,"

"But…" Ella started to protest.

"No arguments, you're coming," Fred said bluntly, taking her hand and leading her in the direction of the hospital wing.

* * *

Ella had been granted the afternoon off of school to stay in the hospital wing and receive treatment. She forced down some horrible tasting potion, on the promise it would quicken up the healing of the gash in her lip but apart from that, nothing would heal it other than time. Ella's heart sunk at the news, despite it being the news she expected. She had hoped that there would be some way she wouldn't have to walk round school looking like a victim of domestic abuse. As expected, Harry was livid at what had happened. Ron and Hermione had to talk him down from storming straight to Karkaroff to try and have it out with him.

"Then at least tell Dumbledore!" Harry demanded, in his visit after lessons. Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George were also all stood around the hospital bed, Ella was now sat up in.

"But Harry, I think he's one of them, you know, those death eaters. Even Snape said it would be unwise to go after Igor," Ella tried to get her brother to understand.

"Snape!" Harry spat, horrified that she had spoken to him about this before himself, "Why in Merlin's name were you talking to him?"

"He stopped Igor, Harry," Ella told him, softly, "And tried to heal up my face as best he could. He actually managed to stop the bleeding pretty well," She ran a hand over her lip.

"Didn't know the git had it in him," Ron said in disbelief.

"Well don't get too excited. He's still a git," Fred snarled at the thought of what Ella had told him he had said. The group squabbled over what to do about the situation. They still hadn't come to any decision, other than the fact Sirius needed to be informed of what had happened, when Madame Pomfrey ushered all guests out, insisting her patient needed to rest.

Within 15 minutes of the others leaving, there was knock on the door.

"Sorry, Poppy," Dumbledore opened the door, "would I be able to speak to Miss Potter for a minute,"

"She needs rest, Albus," She tried to insist.

"Oh I won't be long and it is, indeed, very important," He said, winking at Ella, who was now sat up watching the pair, with a twinkle in his eye.

"Very well, I'll be back in 5 minutes," Madame Pomfrey warned. Ella chuckled at the way she spoke to the headmaster as though it was her who was employing him, and not the other way around.

"Ah, Miss Potter," Dumbledore sat himself down on the chair beside the bed, picking a liquorice snap from the complimentary bowl on the bedside table, "I was just wondering whether you could enlighten me on how your received your injuries. It's just, they seem rather remarkable for not looking where you were going," He enquired.

"I'm sorry professor, I can't tell you," She looked at the floor, unable to meet his eye.

"Elspeth, you can tell me. If it's something bad I can protect you from it," He offered supportively.

"It was Igor Karkaroff," She admitted, feeling a huge weight lift from her chest, "He didn't like the fact I transferred. And please, professor, call me Ella"

"Sorry, Ella, I had a funny feeling it would be. Sorry if I'm prying, but would I be right in assuming there is some sort of past between you two?" He asked carefully, not wanting to upset the girl. Ella nodded grimly.

"Yes, but how did you know?"

"I could tell there was something not completely right from the moment you arrived at this school. Now the question is, what do you want to do about it?" Ella met Dumbledore's kind gaze, his shimmering blue eyes twinkling in the moon light.

"I don't know," Ella admitted, "What can we do?"  
"I could report him for physical abuse and an inappropriate relationship with a student. Both would earn him a one way ticket to Azkaban,"

"But then, everyone would find out," Ella stammered, starting to shake in fear of a mixture of what people would say if it went public that she had been having an affair with her headmaster, and of the wrath of Igor when he found out she was planning to prosecute him. She thought back to what Snape had said earlier that day. He had been right, even if they lock him away, there's others on his side. Others that are possibly even worse than him. Ella shuddered.

"Only those who it is necessary to," Dumbledore reassured her, "I could speak to the right people, make sure it stays quiet and request he stays in his post here under observation of the ministry until the end of the year, where he will go to Azkaban and await his trial there. That way, there will be no speculations among your peers as to why he has disappeared. How does that sound? Would you like me to send an owl in the morning?" Ella nodded silently. "Very well, my dear." He stood up bidding goodnight to her then Madame Pomfrey from her office. Just before he reached the door Ella called out to him.

"Professor," She called, causing him to turn around, "Thanks," She said with a genuine smile, the first she had had in a long while.


	24. Chapter 24

Ella was woken early by the morning sun flooding into the light and airy hospital wing and the joyous birds twittering cheerfully outside. For the first time in a long while, she woke up feeling free. Dumbledore was going to sort out the situation with Igor and protect her in the process. Fair enough, she still had some slight untold truths about the previous year, but those were secrets, only Igor knew and she didn't have to worry about him anymore, or so she thought.

Ella was discharged by 7am, and dashed over to the Gryffindor tower, where she wrote her letter hurriedly.

_Sirius,_

_It's hard to explain this, but there was an incident involving Karkaroff yesterday morning, which, to put simply, I've only been discharged from the hospital this morning because of. I did, however, manage to find some more information out on him. Snape let slip that he was fairly certain that he was still involved with the Death Eaters and that the unrest at the world cup wouldn't be the last we'll hear from them. I don't know how he knows, but he does. Hope this helps,_

_Ella_

"ELLA!" She heard a squeal and a thundering of footsteps charging down the steps into the common room. Ella turned to see a ginger haired girl flying towards her, flinging herself at her. "I'm so happy you're okay," Ginny hugged her friend tightly. The pair had become close over the Christmas holidays and found they held many of the same opinions and traits.

"I'm fine, Gin," Ella laughed, pulling out the hug only to be ran at and engulfed by another bear hug. The group grew, as the news was passed round Ella's friends that she was back. Ella ended up hugging every single one, insisting that she was fine and didn't need fussing over. Leaning on the side of the wall, smirking at her embarrassment of the fuss, was he tall flame head boyfriend.

"And what are you looking so self-righteous about?" Ella teased, making her way to where he was stood.

"How your hugs and smiles are noticeably decreasing in enthusiasm. Admit it, you hate all this attention," Fred teased back.

"Well, yeah, but they only do it because they care," She tried to defend her friends. Fred just laughed at the way she always saw the best in other, and pulled her into a warm embrace, kissing lightly on the head.

"Just don't get yourself hurt again, promise me?" He said in a more serious tone.

"I'll try, but it's the next task in a matter of weeks and I haven't even figured out what it's going to be. If it wasn't for Harry last time, I wouldn't have been prepared for that either. All Igor gave me was a list of spells which would cause great, and some permanent, harm," She said slightly frantically.

"Talking of the bastard, what you doing about him?" Fred took the opportunity to ask whilst the other Gryffindors had, largely, gone down to breakfast, and the man had come up in the subject of the conversation.

"I told Dumbledore," She mumbled looking at her feet awkwardly.

"That's brilliant!" He exclaimed, he picked her up, throwing her over his shoulder and spinning around in jest.

"Ahaha, Fred. You can put me down," She giggled, patting him on the back to encourage her release.

"So, what's gonna happen to the miserable git then?" He asked eagerly.

"He's already been reported, most likely. And then he's going to stay at the castle under the watch of Dumbledore on behalf of the ministry until the end of the tournament, when he'll go to Azkaban and await his trial there," She said gleefully. Fred couldn't help himself from grinning dopily and kissing Ella passionately. He ran his hands through her tangled, messy hair, pulling her in closer.

"I'm so proud of you, you know that," Fred said breaking the kiss, resting his forehead on hers.

"I know," The pair burst into laughter.

The rest of that day went fairly uneventfully. Ella had double transfiguration first with her own year, proving herself to be quite talented in it, then care of magical creatures. After lunch, she had her first defence the dark arts lesson, a subject that was completely new to her. At Durmstrang they taught the dark arts, rather than defending it, and Beauxbatons felt it was a matter to be avoided altogether. She had heard a lot about the new teacher, mainly that he was a complete nutter, but nothing had quite prepared her for just how mad he was. He spent the lesson showing them the effects of the cruciatous curse and beginning to talk them through resisting the imperious curse, before they ran out of time. Finally, she had potions once again, with the 6th years. This was the lesson Ella had been dreading all day. She was dreading facing Snape after the way he had treated after healing her injuries. Practically accusing her of provoking Karkaroff and implying that she had deserved. Ella had not told her brother or the twins what he had said, as she knew it would do more trouble than good. All that would happen is that they would lose their tempers and say or do something they would come to regret.

Whilst waiting outside the room, in the cold damp dungeons, Ella felt an arm wrap around her waist and pull her into a familiar body.

"How's your day been?" Fred asked, kissing her temple. Ella turned to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck, his arms still around her waist.

"Brilliant, but you weren't half right about Moody being a nutter," Ella laughed, leaning in to kiss her boyfriend, a little more intensely than intended, due to other inhabitants of the same hallway. She never got tired of his kiss though. Her lips felt as though they had been set on fire every time they met his luscious ones.

"Get a room," Lee Jordan complained, whilst walking past.

"Urghh," Ella groaned, pulling apart from the kiss unwillingly.

In the lesson, Snape was even more arrogant and rude than normal towards the girl, despite her potion being almost spot on once again. As the students began to pack up their supplies and equipment, he announced a 5000 word essay on the uses and dangers of bizoarres, in for the following day.

"And 6000 words for you Miss Potter, for over affectionate displays of public affection in the hallway before my lesson began,"

"But professor," She tried to reason.

"Do you want 7000 words?"

"Well, no but…"

"Then I suggest that you be quiet. Not that you seem to do anything I suggest," He snapped, turning around to clear his own desk. It suddenly dawned on Ella, why she was getting this unfair treatment. She had turned Igor in, despite what he had advised.

"Wait outside, I'll just be a second," She whispered in Fred's ear. He nodded and left with his brother.

Ella walked over to the professor's desk, clearing her throat, causing Snape to turn round, slightly startled.

"What do you want?" He snapped bluntly.

"Admit it, your pissed off that I didn't take your advice and not prosecute Igo…Karkaroff," She corrected herself.

"I will remind you _I am_ your professor, so not to use that language towards me. And no, I just think you a fool, so you obviously need a bit more work," He smirked sarcastically. Ella felt her face flush with anger.

"You don't know what it was like," She hissed quietly to ensure Fred wouldn't hear and come bursting in. She slammed her hand on the table in shear frustration and anger as he responded with a low false chuckle.

"So what was it like to flaunt yourself around at him? Winding him up then just dropping him up?" He had now spun round to face her. Ella couldn't describe what came over her as she smacked her potions professor clean across the face.

"I did NO such thing," She said, shaking with fury. "HE came on to me! He was the one to start the affair and _he _was the one who tried to rape me!" She fell backwards, to rest on the front row bench.

"Well, forgive me for not realising," Snape said, suddenly taken aback. He looked as though he was about to cry. "5000 words on the use and dangers of bizoarres, my desk tomorrow with the others," He said before striding off into his office.

"What was that about?" Fred asked, draping his arm around Ella as she exited the class room.

"Oh, I was just convincing him to let me just do the same as the rest of you," She said casually, not daring to tell the boys what had really happened. She had hit a teacher and she didn't know how she was still in the school, but she had gotten away with it.

The three of them made their way to the common room. The evening had passed quietly, with everyone other than the twins, who were working on their new shop products, trying to get through the mammoth amounts of homework they had been set. Karkaroff had glared relentlessly at Ella all through dinner that night. Ella and Fred were walking out of the Great Hall together, George was off somewhere else trying to woo Angelina with some great romantic gesture, as Fred had put it, when Karkaroff stopped Ella by grabbing her arm and pulling her aside from the other Gryffindors.

"How dare you report me?!" He spat at her. Ella felt sick. Having him that close to her, after she had realised how dangerous he was, she couldn't help but be terrified. She desperately tried not to show how she felt, however she relaxed immensely at the sound of a comforting voice.

"And if you don't want to get put away for even longer and sooner, I suggest you get the hell away from her now," Fred hissed from behind, in a voice Ella hadn't believed his sweet, kind nature could manage. Karkaroff stepped away as he was told, obviously trying to avoid Azkaban again at all costs, in a hope the Ella might drop all the charges.

"Come on," Fred wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled close to him in reassurance, heading back up to the Gryffindor tower.

There was a knock at Fred's door as he, George and Lee Jordan were getting changed into their night wear.

"Two seconds," Lee called out in response, pulling on his trousers. After checking they were all decent, George opened the door to see who it could possibly be at this late an hour, the rest of the Gryffindor house had gone to bed hours ago. It was now well past midnight. Ella stepped in the red, puffy eyes, tear tracks still streaming down her face.

"I'm so sorry, I couldn't sleep," She stuttered, trembling, trying to remove the evidence that she had been crying off of her face. George hugged her, telling her it wasn't a problem and welcoming her in. Fred wrapped her up in his arms as she clutched his shirt, close to sobbing again. Her skin was as pale as a sheet and her skin was hot and clammy.

"The whole thing replayed in my dream," She whispered, knowing Fred would know exactly what she was on about.

"It's fine, he can't touch you here," He said, stroking her hair soothingly. "You're sleeping in my bed with me tonight, no argument," He commanded.

"Is that okay?" She pulled out the hug, and turned to the other boys in the room. They exchanged a look with each other.

"It's not a problem with us as long as you promise there'll be nothing untoward going on while we're still in the room," George teased. Ella tossed a pillow off of Fred's bed at him in jest.

"Of course there won't be you idiot," She laughed, instantly feeling better for it. She crawled into the bed next to Fred, who held her tightly all night and for the first night in a long while she slept soundly all night.


	25. Chapter 25

The weeks started to fly by. The ministry of magic had issued Igor with a letter, officially stating he was under arrest within the castle, until the end of the academic year, where he would return to Azkaban and await his trial, and therefore kept out of Ella's way. The second task was fast approaching. With only a week left to prepare for it, she still had no idea what she was preparing for.

Ella was on her way back from library, where, with Hermione's help, she'd been researching previous second tasks in the Triwizard tournament to try and at least prepare her possible scenarios. However, she decided it would be very little help as each of the previous send tasks had all been completely different. Whilst in stuck inside her own head, she heard a voice call her name. She looked up to see the tall, handsome hufflepuff, who she knew to be Cedric Diggory, a fellow champion, jogging towards her.

"Hey Cedric," She said casually, wondering why he called her considering they had never really spoke more than two words before.

"I was just wondering how you were getting on with deciphering the egg?" He asked, stopping next to her.

"Still not got a clue, all it does is screech when I open it. Same for you?"

"Well, actually no. That's why I wanted to speak to you. After you and Harry tipped me off about the dragons I thought I should repay the favour," Cedric said, starting to look a bit embarrassed, for reasons Ella didn't know.

"Oh, really!" She exclaimed, "Gee, thanks Ced,"

"Well, I've already told Harry to mull it over in the bath but I felt bad for being so cryptic because I'm not entirely sure he's figured it out," He explained, "Anyway, from what I gather it's going to be in the black lake, and we have an hour to retrieve something. What, I don't know. Sorry if it's not much help," He said looking all embarrassed again.

"NOT MUCH HELP?" She exclaimed, pulling him into a hug, "Oh Cedric, you've just completely saved my arse with this one. Thank you ever so much," She released and they both walked off, talking about the task ahead.

"Oh, and I'm glad to see you're staying here," He nodded towards her uniform as he bode her farewell and parted towards the Hufflepuff common room. Ella ran her fingers over the gold and red lining of the neck of her jumper wistfully.

"I'm glad too," She whispered to herself.

"Hey, where've you been?" Fred asked as she joined him and Fred on the table in the corner of their common room.

"Just been at the library, preparing for this bloody task in a few days," She said, still stressing about how she was meant to hold her breath for an hour.

"Any luck?" George said, finishing scribbling something down on what looked like an order form.

"Not at first, but then I ran into Cedric Diggory," She said, deciding she trust the twins not to say anything about the slight bending of the rules.

"And…" Fred suddenly listening very intently when he heard that she had been speaking to the older boy.

"He wanted to repay me for tipping him off about the dragons so he told me what it's going to be," She half mumbled, not sure whether Fred would assume that Cedric was flirting.

"Oh," He said, obviously taken a back, "That's amazing," He hugged her, George following. She thanked them and explained what she knew of the task.

"Well, we were just going to go down to the pitch and practise a bit of quidditch, if you want to come," George asked, standing up from his seat.

"We know it's cancelled this year, but that doesn't stop us from practising, does it?" Fred teased at Ella's confused look.

"Of course I will," She jumped up, throwing an arm over each boys' shoulders.

"What's got into you?" George asked, amused, referring to her big dopey grin.

"It just feels right, you know. Being here, I mean," She chuckled and wrapped her arms tighter around her boyfriend and best friend.

They reached the pitch, the air light and breezy with a February chill.

"Perfect conditions," Ella said, in mockery of the two quidditch obsessed boys.

"You play much? Never really had Beauxbatons down as a quidditch playing school," Fred pondered.

"It's not but you think it's possible to be practically baby sat by Viktor Krum all summer and not get dragged into playing it all. Actually quite enjoyed it though, flying really clears your head," She said as all three of the still gazed over the still quidditch pitch. The boys both nodded in agreement and they went to get their brooms.

"So what position do you normally play?" George enquired as they were flying round together, gently warming up.

"Well, I always competed against Viktor to make him practise getting the snitch but I'm really not a seeker. I'm probably more of a chaser," She shrugged, "Are you two gonna go at this pace all day," She teased, effortlessly pulling ahead, slicing the air.

"Catch us," They said in sync, speeding past her again. The three chased and darted around the pitch on their brooms, zooming in and out of the goal posts in a race. Finally, they let lose the bludgers and the got out the quaffle and started practising. The twins practising defending Ella, sending the bludgers flying whenever they approached and Ella practised receiving the quaffle from one of the boys before proceeding to try and get it through one of the goal posts. Much to the boys' amazement, she managed to get it in almost every time, despite claiming to only be a novice.

"You have to go for try outs," George proclaimed, as they dismounted their brooms, excited with the new Gryffindor talent they'd found.

"I can throw a quaffle, I'm not that good," She laughed, going bright Ella. George just raised his eyebrows quizzically to see if she was being serious.

"Are you kidding?!" Fred scoffed, "You are _really _good!"

The three ran, laughed and messed around all the way back to the Gryffindor common room. The time for dinner soon came, the sight of her brother, reminding her that she needed to pass on Cedric's information. She was just about to tell him, what he revealed his revelation in the prefect's bathroom, whilst he been bathing with the peculiar screeching egg. All their friends listened in fascinated.

"What I want to know, is why Cedric was bathing with that wretched egg thing anyway?!" Fred announced, causing the whole table to erupt into side-splitting laughter.

* * *

Later that evening, the only students left in the common room were George and Angelina sat in the far corner on their own, Harry, Hermione, Ron, a couple of second years, Lee Jordan trying to chat up Alicia and Fred and Ella. The trio, Fred, Ella, Alicia, Katie and Lee were all talking about what Harry and Ella could possibly have to retrieve in the second task.

"Are you not scared? I mean how are you meant to find something, that you might not even know exists," He questioned.

"I wasn't until you've just said that," Ella said, playfully tossing a cushion she had been leaning on whilst they were all lounging on the floor, across the circle in which they were sat, at him.

"All I'm worrying about is how the hell we're meant to be under water for an hour," Harry fretted.

"Shit, forgot about that part," She laughed, feeling far too relaxed at the whole situation. The task was only in five days and she still hadn't even thought about how she was going to accomplish it. After about another half an hour of chatting, cracking each other up with various, jokes, people gradually started to peel off to bed. Fred pulled Ella, who had been sat next to him for the duration of that conversation, closer to him by the waist.

"When will the rest of the bugger off to bed, so we have some time alone," He whispered in her ear, his hot breath sending a tingle down her neck. She laughed, hushing him but still leaning in close to him.

"Oh get a room," Lee Jordan said at the top of voice from the other side of the circle, purposely diverting everyone's attention to the couple.

"Would if we could," Fred said bluntly, wrapping his arm around Ella's shoulder so she could cuddle in his warm, comforting chest, kissing the top of her head.

"And with that, I'm going to bed," Harry got up, Ron in tow, "Night everyone," He said walking off, Hermione also heading off to her own dorm.

"I forgot how hard it was to get somewhere alone in this bloody place. Soon we're going to have to resort to using a broom cupboard," He joked, whispering into her hair.

"Hmmm," Ella was thinking, furiously trying to come up with a solution, "Oh, I've got an idea!" She exclaimed, jerking apart from her boyfriend in her excitement.

"Care to share this brilliant enlightenment," Fred chuckled, amused at her.

"Later," She said, as she was distracted by a tapping at the window.

"You have the attention span of a fish at times, you know that?" He mused, as Ella made her way over to the window. She opened it and a large, stone coloured owl flew gracefully in, perching on the back of the sofa. She saw the letter attached to its foot was addressed to her. She swiftly removed the letter from the bird's foot and opened it hurriedly, recognising the hand writing on the side to be that of her brother's god father.

_Ella,_

_I'm so sorry about what happened with the little git. I feel partially responsible as it was me that completely pushed you into transferring, despite knowing it would most likely anger him. I hope you are okay now, and be assured, if I ever get my hands on him, well put it this way, you won't be getting bothered by him anymore. Keep me posted if you find out anymore of his extra activities, though I suppose they've all been put on hold for now. Are you any further on deciphering what the next task could be? I did speak to Dumbledore, who spoke to Ludo Bagman, who said that you would still have to compete for Durmstrang seen as that is the school you attended when you were entered, but don't let it bother you. Just send an owl if you ever need anything and tell Harry again how great it was seeing the two of you at Christmas._

_Love, Padfoot_

Ella read and reread the letter. There was something about Sirius that made her feel safe when he was around. He was less of a parentally figure, and more of a big brother cross with a best friend that may as well be family. Harry had been right when they first spoke, the three of them were a little family, even if it did consist of a falsely convicted fugitive, 'the chosen one', despite being the mere age of 16, a girl who had already been on the run and attended the three different wizarding schools of Europe and all of them had a knack for finding trouble to run into.

"Who's that from?" Fred asked curiously at her grin.

"Sirius," She grinned, sitting at a table, pulling a piece of parchment and quill out of her satchel that had been lying on a spare chair all day, to write a reply while she remembered. Fred made his way over to her, taking the next seat.

"I've always liked him. I mean I haven't really had much to do with him until this holiday but from what I'd heard from ickle Ronnikins from Harry, he really seems to have your best interests and I can agree with anyone who wants to help me keep you out of trouble. God knows it's a hard enough job," He teased her. Ella shot him a glare only to crumple and start laughing within a matter of seconds. She just couldn't stay mad at him and it was infuriating.

_Padfoot,_

_I'm fine now, barely feel my injuries. Don't you dare feel guilty, nothing makes me happier that being a Hogwarts student, so don't think you were wrong to get me transferred for a second. The Hufflepuff champion, Cedric Diggory, actually worked it out and told us, seen as we tipped him about the first task. We have an hour to retrieve something from the black lake, but what, I don't know. You wouldn't know of a way to stay under water for a long time would you? Harry and I are at a bit of a loss. I'll owl you if I hear of anything more about Karkaroff._

_Stay safe, Ella_


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The night before the second task, Ella sat up late with Fred in the common room, desperately wracking their brains and trawling through book after book to decide how on earth she was going to manage to search the black lake for an hour, for an unknown object, without coming up for air. It was nearing midnight when Fred slammed the 5th book he had picked up shut.

"Please can you just ask what Cedric is doing for it," Fred pleaded once again, desperate to use their time alone for other uses.

"He's already helped a ridiculous amount, I will ask Harry before I ask Cedric for anything else," She said stubbornly. He gave her a sly grin, his eyes glinting wickedly. "What?" She asked, half infuriated, half irritated.

"You're sexy when you're stubborn," He stated bluntly, standing up from his chair, making his way over to Ella.

"Oh, am I now?" She said laughing, biting her lip as he neared her.

"Well, you always are and not being able to be with you every night is killing me," He took her hands in his and pulled her out of her chair and into his arms. "Now, I can think of better ways to put our time to use." He placed a hand under her chin, tilting her head to face him, as his other hand wrapped around her waist, so as he could feel her hot body against his. He leant down, grazing his lips on hers, before pulling apart slightly, still lingering his over hers tantalisingly. Every inch of Ella's body wanted him. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his lips back onto hers. He parted his slightly, running his tongue over her bottom lip, asking to gain entry. She obliged, tilting her head further back, allowing the kiss to deepen. It was hot and passionate. Ella felt herself go slightly light headed with the rush. There was something about Fred Weasley that had that effect on her like no other guy had had before.

Just then they heard the portrait swing open and the sound of someone in heels entering the common room. The pair separated quickly, both turning red, Ella looking guilty and Fred looking oddly proud.

"Mr Weasley, if you could accompany me to my office quickly," Professor McGonagall ordered promptly. Fred just looked between his professor and his girlfriend, at a loss as why he would be needed at this hour.

"But professor, I was just helping Ella prepare for tomorrow," He stammered, hoping to get off from going.

"I'm sure she'll be fine. If you could come with me, please, and Miss Potter you should probably rest for it's going to be a long hard day, for you tomorrow," And with that she turned and exited the room, holding the portrait open, waiting for Fred to follow her.

"Good night and good luck. Try to get some sleep," He hugged her tightly. She pecked him quickly, painfully aware that their head of house could still hear everything.

"I love you," He rested his forehead on hers, before giving her another kiss, this one lasting marginally longer, then followed McGonagall out of the room.

Ella couldn't believe it. Fred Weasley, the player, womanizer and heart breaker of Hogwarts was in love with her. It was the first time anyone had ever told Ella this, apart from Damien, who knew he was sure to get laid after he told her the three words she longed to hear. This thought made her hesitate. What if Fred was just going to end up hurting her as Damien had? Surely, if he's used to having any girl he wants at his beck and call, for a quickie in a broom cupboard, why would he change? She shook her head. She was being silly and she knew it. Fred was different. He hadn't done it to get into her knickers, in fact he had said it as he was leaving to follow the deputy head mistress, and therefore sex was probably one the last things on his mind. However, she couldn't help the thought of Fred having her on for a laugh, entering her mind and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't push it out. After a couple of hours of tossing and turning, various thoughts of the day ahead and of Fred flying madly around her head, sleep took pity on her and her eyelids drooped as she entered a patchy, disturbed sleep.

Ella woke a few hours later, to the sound of her roommates snoring. She got up quietly, careful not to wake them, and headed to get a shower. Once showered, she used a simple drying charm to dry her hair and twisted it into a simple, neat braid falling down her back, before, begrudgingly, getting dressed into her Durmstrang robes. Returning to her room, she grabbed her Durmstrang swim suit, which was a deep, coffee brown with a burgundy trim. She looked disgustedly at the distastefully low V-neckline of the swimsuit which had uncoincidentally been designed by her previous headmaster, and stuffed it in her bag for the lake side. She headed to the common room, to find her brother sat broodingly in the arm chair, looking even more nervous than herself if possible.

"Hey," She said softly, gently sitting on the arm of his chair. Careful not to startle him, she gently placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "You alright?"

"I cannot wait until this god dam awful tournament," He stated in reply, not really answering her question.

"You figured out how you going to manage to stay down there that long?" She asked, caringly.

"Gillyweed, not a clue what it is but apparently it'll work. How you going to do it?" He asked, finally seeming to snap out of his trance slightly.

"Erm…well that's the thing. I haven't actually thought of anything yet," Ella admitted hesitantly.

"Are you being serious!?" Harry snapped, actually sounding angry with her.

"Well, yeah. I just thought I would get there and sort of come up with something,"

"Are you stupid?" He snapped harshly, immediately regretting it seeing the hurt look on his sister's face. "I'm sorry, I just don't know what I'd do without you now," He gave her a small smile. "Use some of my Gillyweed," He said as more of an order than a request. Ella nodded and the pair sat quietly enveloped in their own thoughts, yet thankful for each other's company, waiting until it was time for breakfast.

Ella stood at the side of the lake, suddenly start to feel overwhelmed by the nerves that had been previously lacking. It was almost as though they had all been bottled up and that bottle had suddenly been opened, flooding her with them, turning her into a slight jittery wreck. The crowd was starting to gather behind her on her the stands. She sat on the edge of the stand, dipping her feet in the freezing winter water. The temperature of the water had been a factor that had completely escaped her mind whilst preparing for this task, and she was kicking herself for doing so now.

The stands were pretty much full now and the other champions began to take their places at the edge of the stand with their mentors. Ella looked around for her friends, as it suddenly dawned on her that she hadn't seen Fred yet that day, as she saw George stood on his own, also seeming to be scanning the crowd, when the pair's eyes met. He instantly realised she was doing the same as him and approached her.

"Hey, Ella. Have you seen Fred anywhere?" George asked, a certain usual spark lacking from his tone.

"No, I assumed he'd be with you," Ella replied, her nerves starting to tip her over the edge, "When did you last see him?"  
"Errr, he never came to bed last night. I assumed he'd be with you," George rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Ella's mind went into overdrive at this revelation. _What if something had happened to him on the way back from McGonagall's? _

"He was but then he was called to McGonagall's office late last night and I haven't seen him since," She rushed out, now scanning the crowd for her head of house. "Professor!" She yelled as she spotted her. However, her voice was drowned out by the voice of Ludo Bagman, announcing the close beginning of the second task, over the magical tannoy.

When Ella turned back around, George had disappeared back into the crowd, presumably to look for his twin again. A tall lean figure bumped into her arrogantly in passing.

"Oh, I didn't see you," The boy said in a condescending tone, wearing a smirk that made Ella instantly take a strong disliking to him.

"Of course," She rolled her eyes and began to turn away when he spoke again.

"I do believe we've never been introduced. Draco Malfoy," He stuck his hand out self-righteously, demanding a response.

"Ella Potter," She replied coldly, refusing to shake his hand. At this, he promptly turned to the boys following him around like love sick groupies and sneered;

"Come on, not sure I want to waste my time on someone who can't even recognise her superiors." Indicating to his own blood status. "It's a mystery what happened to all the polite purebloods around here," He said as he left.

After breathing a sigh of relief that that infuriating encounter was over, she felt a harsh, cold hand land heavily on her shoulder.

"Don't embarrass me out there" Karkaroff hissed in her ear menacingly, sending a chill down her spine. She shook his hand off, still looking straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact with the man.

"Whether I do well or not, it will be for me and me alone. Not for you or your precious school, and whatever you say to won't influence me either way, so jut bare that in mind," She said cooly, still staring out to the lake. He just muttered some undistinguishable curses and marched back off to Viktor. Since she had transferred, Krum had barely exchanged two words with Ella, despite their previous closeness. It saddened her to think of it, but she told herself if he was going to take Igor's side over her own on this, then he wasn't worth it.

"Will the champions please step up to the side now," Bagman's voiced echoed over the lake, inducing a silence in the waiting crowd. Ella exchanged a glance at Harry, who gave a small smile in return.

"Good luck Miss Potter," The calming voice of her headmaster, came from her side. She nodded a thanks as he moved off.

"When the cannon fires, the task may begin!" Bagman announced. Within milliseconds, the cannon sounded a loud boom, thundering in her ears. She quickly gulped down the vile tasting gillyweed before diving in, emerging herself into the ice cold water. She looked down to see webs knitting themselves in between her extremities. She swan off hastily, in an effort to get out of the biting water and to find where on earth her boyfriend had gotten to. With swift, graceful movements of her limbs, Ella began to travel through the icy water at decent pace, constantly remaining on the lookout for something that could be classed as a treasure.

After what felt like a lifetime, she began to think about what in Merlin's name this unforthcoming treasure could be. All the champions had been told, was that it was something that had been taken from each one of them. With a violent shudder, she came to horrific a realisation of what it might be. She hadn't been able to Fred this morning, just as Harry hadn't been able to find either of his friends, one of which coincidently happened to be dating none other than Viktor Krum, her fellow Durmstrang champion, who had also had something, or someone, taken. Just as she began to tell herself it couldn't be possible, she came to a clearing where five motionless human bodies, swayed side to side stiffly with the lake's current, tethered down. Her stomach lurched as she stopped in her tracks, and stared dumbly at the sight before her. Just as she started to panic, Ella saw a large bulky figure, whom she recognised to be the other Durmstrang competitor, untether the second smallest of the still girls. Within a matter of moments after he swam away, Cedric Diggory untethered a second person and pulled them upwards, towards the surface with him.

Deciding she had already waited too long, Ella started to swim rather frantically towards the three remaining lifeless figures. As she neared, the signature flaming ginger hair of the Weaselys' told her that two of the treasures were indeed her boyfriend and her younger brother's best friend. Despite being underwater, her mouth dried up in anticipation. She spotted another figure moving swiftly towards the figures from the opposite direction. Harry, after shooting Ella a look mirroring what she was thinking, began to try and undo the knot that clamped Ron down. His nerves were obviously getting the better of him as he fumbled hopelessly. Ella signalled to him to move out of the way as she sent a jet of light from her wand to base of the tether, freeing Ron, before turning back to Fred and doing the same.

Just as she was about to set off to the surface, Harry beckoned her back, pointing to the one remaining 'treasure'. Ella instantly read what he was thinking. The time allowance was drawing to a close and there had still been no sign of Fleur. On top of this, Ella was quite fond of Gabrielle from her dealings with her at Beauxbatons. She had always been a sweet young girl, quite opposite to her conceited sister. She shot another burst of light to where Gabrielle was tied, allowing her to begin to float away, still lifeless in her movements. Ella quickly began to swim over to the floating girl, still clutching onto Fred, when she was surrounded by mermaids. However, these merfolk, bared little resemblance to the ones portrayed in children's stories. Their skin was a dull, deathly grey and their hair was a dark, unpleasant green. One warningly grabbed Ella around the neck, causing her to cling tighter onto Fred's vacant body.

"Only one," It hissed viciously, before they disappeared as suddenly as they appeared. Taking a quick glance around to check, none were too close, Ella darted to Gabrielle, taking a firm hold of her, and swimming as quick as she could to the surface. She could still see Harry only a few metres above her, as he was keeping a watchful eye over his sister, whilst she took her risk.

The surface began to come into focus and the pair thought they had gotten away uncaught. However, within mere metres of the surface, the merepeople caught up and grabbed and clung to Ella's angles, wailing ear splittingly. They began to drag her down, unforgivingly. Realising her fight was quite useless, she pushed the lifeless bodies up towards her brother in hope that he might escort them to surface. The rotten grey creatures clawed at her legs, pulling her deeper into the lake. Harry and the others were now out of sight due to the mass of livid merpeople, angered by her disobedience, surrounding her. She hoped desperately that they had all made it to the stands to safety. She cursed Fleur inwardly for being so cowardly, endangering her sister, before she reminded herself the Fleur wasn't to have known it was her sister she had given up on trying to find. Ella felt her ability to breath, decrease, until she was left almost completely unable to do so. Her eyelids grew heavy as she was continually being dragged down and clawed at. She looked down to the water around her legs tinged red, with the blood the merpeople had drawn. A thought of Fred flashed through her mind, willing her not to give up. Suddenly aware once more that she was, in fact, carrying her wand, Ella wracked her brain for spells to get her out of their grasps.

"Bombarda Maxima!" Ella said, with as much assertion as she could muster. A large explosion was produced, causing all the previously attacking merpeople to drop and disappear deeper into the unknown of the black lake. Suddenly painfully aware of how far away from the surface she was, and how little energy she had due the cold and lack of lack of breath she pointed her wand above her head."Ascendio," She said in barely a whisper, putting all her remaining energy and determination into it. She shot to the surface, the weakness of her conviction, only just getting her to the base of the steps onto the main stand.

"She's here!" She heard a voice yell, yet it sounded distant and she couldn't connect what was going on around her. She felt herself being hoisted out of the water and laid on her side on the floor of the stand. The heaviness in her eyelids doubled as her vision became increasingly blury and sounds she heard began to make less and less sense, until she gave in and allowed her eyelids to fall shut, causing her world to go black.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

"Ella can you hear me?" A voice said, sounding distant. Everything sounded like it was a long way away and nothing was really fitting into place. "Where the hell is Madame Pomfrey?!" He snapped.

"She's on her way, please try and stay calm Mr Weasley," An older and wiser voice now spoke. Ella was now becoming conscious of the fact she was lying on hard surface, and that the voices she could here, were indeed right next to her. She slowly tried to prise her eyes open, however they just fluttered slightly before shutting once again, not that Fred hadn't noticed this slight movement.

"Professor, she's coming round!" He announced, still leaning over her head, refusing to tear his intense gaze from her face. "Ella, hun, can you hear me?"

The voice of her boyfriend brought back some memories, giving her a vague recollection of what had happened. She opened her eyes once again, this time, despite struggling, she kept them open.

"She's awake!" He announced to his professor once more, this time with a higher urgency. "How you feeling?" He asked her, stroking her wet, warm, dark brunette hair. She smiled weakly in response, as the words got caught in her throat. Fred, however, thought it sufficient and leant down, kissing her forehead. "You gave me a right old scare. Madame Pomfrey's on her way," He told her.

Just as the words left his mouth, he heard the school nurse scolding the crowds of students, in an effort to get through to the injured girl. She promptly kneeled beside her, waving her wand in various patterns, muttering incantations under her breath.

"Blood pressure's good, as is her heart beat, her blood oxygen level's a bit on the low side but that's to be expected really seen as she nearly drowned." The nurse rattled, "How are you feeling, dear?" She asked more gently, talking directly to Ella now.

"Better," Ella wheezed in a breathy whisper, which was all she could manage.

"That's a lie," Madame Pomfrey replied bluntly, "come on, let's get you up to the hospital." She conjured a stretcher so as Fred could lift her onto it as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

She woke again several hours later, this time in a clean white room. Her head was now pounding and her body ached all over. She rolled over and opened to her eyes, to see her boyfriend clutching her hand tightly, peering intently at her.

"Where am I?" She questioned cautiously, still obviously dazed.

"You're in the hospital wing. How you feeling?" He asked, squeezing her hand gently.

"Like shit to be honest," She replied, causing Fred to laugh.

"Well, at least you're still the same, blunt Ella we all know and love," Ella couldn't help but laugh at this remark, causing her to wince in pain. "I'll go notify Madame Pomfrey you've woken, she said she wanted to speak to you when you woke," Her stood to leave, carefully kissing her forehead.

Fred returned moments later followed by Madame Pomfrey.

"Thank you, Mr Weasley. Now can I ask you to step outside for a minute or two whilst I talk to Miss Potter privately," She requested politely. Fred looked thoroughly confused, exchanging a glance with Ella who just look worried, before nodding and proceeding out of the hospital wing.

"How are you feeling, Miss Potter?" Ella was getting sick to the back teeth of being asked this, however this time she replied a bit more politely,

"Rough," Madame Pomfrey nodded before pressing on.

"Now may I ask you a few questions?" She asked cautiously. Ella nodded, starting to guess what the mediwitch wanted.

"Have you recently been experiencing any nausea?" She asked, as Ella, unable to answer verbally nodded. "Have you had any tenderness in your breasts? Or any irregularity in menstruation?" She questioned.

"You can stop there, I know I'm pregnant," Ella said shortly, looking to the floor.

"Ah, indeed you are Miss Potter. May I ask how far along you think you might be? Or how long you've known?" She said, giving the younger girl a pitiful look.

"I'll be about 2 and a half months now, and I kind of guessed when I started to get the symptoms, but I just thought if I didn't find out either way then it might go away," She mumbled, ashamed of her naivety.

"Very well, and the father? Does he know? Or is he on the scene?" She asked, concerned.

"He is around but he doesn't have a clue and I'm not sure whether I should tell him," Ella replied, looking the nurse in the eyes for the first time.

"That only leaves one last question then, are you going to keep it?"

"I…I don't know," She stuttered, as a solitude tear rolled down her cheek.

"This is a very large decision to make on your own, Miss Potter. It is for anyone, but especially for a girl as young as yourself. I could arrange for you to talk to your head of house, as she will have to be informed of your predicament anyway as she is responsible for your pastoral care," She suggested.

Ella shook her head, embarrassed at the thought of admitting to her highly respected transfiguration teacher that she had been stupid enough to get herself knocked up when she hadn't even taken her O. yet. Hell, she was 16 years old, with little family and nowhere to live away from school. How on earth was she going to cope?

"She might surprise you, you know. She's not there to judge, but to help, and she's mighty good at it as well," Madame placed a reassuring hand on the young girls shoulder.

"Okay," She nodded slowly, "But would you be able to ask Fred to come back later as I need some time to think." The mediwitch nodded, before exiting the room, leaving Ella to mull over all her possible options. A thought which was so consuming, not long after the nurse had come back through and announced that her boyfriend was coming back at dinner time, sleep had engulfed her into darkness once more.

**Ooo, you probably weren't expecting, or maybe I'm just predictable and you were :p let us know what you think and review! Sorry it was slightly shorter than usual but the last one was long so we'll compromise :3 The next update won't be until after next week as I'm on another DofE expedition, enjoy reading and remember that reviews make the pen flow faster **

**xoxo C**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Ella woke to the sound of rain lashing down on the windows of the hospital wing. It was a cold, dark, miserable Saturday morning after the dreadful second task. The events and revelations of the day before suddenly came back to her. She longed to speak to Fred, but she daren't. He'd know instantly that she was hiding something from him and she couldn't possibly tell him. She hadn't even made her own mind up about it, never mind having anyone else's input.

Just then, disturbing her from her pool of thought, Madame Pomfrey came bustling in carrying a well presented breakfast tray, b-lining straight for Ella, whom was her only patient.

"Morning, Miss Potter," She said cheerfully, "how are we feeling today?"

"A lot better thanks," Ella forced a smile back, lying through her teeth but refusing to go into details of just how crap she felt.

"Good good," She said, briskly placing the tray onto Ella's lap as she had now sat up.

"I'm sorry, but I'm really not hungry today," Ella said, trying to push the tray of food away.

"I'm not taking any excuse. Now you're not only looking after yourself, you don't get to not eat because you don't feel like it. You have to eat because they'll have to," Madame Pomfrey said in an almost motherly tone, indicating towards her stomach.

Ella considered what she had just been told, and decided the nurse was right and pulled the tray back towards her. That was the first time it had really dawned on her. If she decided to keep this baby, she would never again be able to put herself first. She would always have someone else to look after. This thought scared the living day lights out of her, so she quickly pushed it out of her mind.

"I've decided to discharge you before lunch, now you're well rested," Ella nodded in agreement as she cut up her pancake into manageable chunks and sipped her pumpkin juice, "However, don't think I've forgotten that you agreed to talk to Professor McGonagall for me. She'll be calling to see you in about half an hour or so." Madame Pomfrey finished. Ella nodded solemnly, seriously not looking forward to the awkward talk with her head of house that lay ahead.

As promised, within half an hour, Professor McGonagall walked swiftly into the hospital wing. Greeting the mediwitch, she headed over to her student with a grave, sympathetic look on her face.

"Madame Pomfrey has informed me of your situation," She started, trying to break the silence, whilst Ella stared, fixated at the ground. All she got in response was a small nod. "She also informed me that you were unsure of what to do?" She said this, more in a questioning manner, in attempt to try and get the young girl to talk.

"That's correct, I really don't know," Ella replied straightly.

"May I ask whether the father is a student?" Ella faltered at this question, the words getting caught in her throat. "Please, dear. You can tell me. Is it Igor Karkaroff?"

"No," Ella shook her head, tears now falling down her face, "I don't think so, I'd have to be about 4 months along, which I'm not I don't think,"

"My dear, is it Fred Weasley?" She asked in a kind, calming tone, placing a reassuring hand on her crying girl's arm. Ella nodded.

"He's the only really possible option, but oh professor I don't know what to do," She frantically wiped her tears away, in an effort to seem strong despite the tears becoming increasingly frequent.

"Have you told him? See what he would want to do?"

"I haven't," She admitted, "but he'll want to keep it because he's kind, caring and loves his family. He's also a year older, who knows, I might have been up for it if this had happened next year but I've only just turned 16! How am I meant to manage? And on top of all that Fred and I haven't exactly been together for a while and it's certainly nothing serious. Neither of us are the serious, commitment type," She started to pull herself together as she tried to tell herself that she had to be rational.

"I understand, I really do. And ultimately, it is your body so you can do as you wish but as your teacher and someone with a fair bit of experience, I would urge you to speak to him. If you never do and make a decision without thinking through all the options thoroughly, you may come to regret it," She said pensively, not that Ella noticed her sudden change in tone through her own frantic thoughts.

"No offence intended, professor, but you don't understand how scared I am. I'm still a kid, I can't even look after myself, never mind someone else," She stammered, fighting back the new tears that were threatening to descend down her face.

"That's where you're wrong, Miss Potter. I know exactly how you feel. I, myself, was actually in your predicament myself 44 years ago, when I was about your age. However, I had no one to speak to about it, as I would have been shunned and scorned by society in my time. I convinced myself that getting rid of it was the only option and so I did so, without so much as breathing a word about it to the father," She told Ella honestly.

"Oh Professor, I had no idea. I'm so sorry,"

"Don't worry my dear, you were not to know,"

"Was it the right decision?" Ella asked, looking McGonagall in the eyes for the first time since she'd entered the room that day.

"In some ways, yes and in others, not at all. I finished my education and have lead a good career that I love, but then I have never had any children since and I often do think about what I have missed out on. I often stay up late wondering whether it would have been a girl or a boy. Or what, if I had kept them, they would be doing now. It's safe to say, it's never left me. The guilt of killing an innocent life, my own child, and the guilt of never letting the father know. After all, it was his child that I killed too," Ella saw the stern, hard exterior her professor was famous for having, starting to crumble. It was McGonagall's turn to break the eye contact as she straightened up her skirt, standing. "I hope this has helped you in your decision, Elspeth,"

"Please, professor, call me Ella. And yes it has, thank you for telling me," and with that Professor McGonagall walked out the room with nothing other than a polite nod.

Ella was discharged late morning, as promised, and headed straight for lunch in the Great Hall. By going relatively early, well for Gryffindors on a Saturday morning in a year where quidditch had been cancelled, she hoped that she would avoid Fred. However this was not to be the case. She had sat with her brother, Ron, Hermione and Katie Bell, picking a particularly delicious looking Egg Mayonnaise sandwich up, as they were always her favourite. Just as she was about to stand up to leave, the twins jogging into lunch, sitting themselves either side of her.

"Have you been avoiding us?" George asked mockingly. "It's like ever since she came joint second yesterday, she's far too important for us peasants," He teased, turning to his twin.

"I what?" She asked in disbelief. After everything since she'd been in the hospital wing, she had completely forgotten about where she'd come. "But how?" Ella asked.

"Well you saved that little Gabrielle as well as old Freddie boy here, didn't you," He explained. Ella looked over to Fred for the first time, to see him staring at his plate in embarrassment. The conversation, as it always did with the boys, lead straight back to quidditch. After a short while, Ella excused herself from the table, as she felt her Egg Mayo sandwich making its way back up. She dashed at top speed to the nearest toilets on the second floor.

She cleaned herself up, removing any trace of vomit from around her mouth.

"Bloody brilliant," She said to herself as she exited the bathroom.

"You know, talking to yourself is often the first sign of madness," Fred stood from the wall on which he had been leaning. It made Ella jump violently.

"Then maybe I am but please never creep up on me like that again," She laughed as he wrapped an arm around her waist. There was something about him that always made her smile, and it scared her. Everything in her mind was screaming for her to just have an abortion. She knew she couldn't handle it. They both couldn't; they were still kids.

"You had me scared stiff yesterday, you know," He said, ignoring her comment.

"Well, so did you when I saw you floating lifelessly," She admitted, looking down at her feet.

"Fine, we'll call it a draw," He joked, "We're even, and seen as we've sorted that issue out, there's something I've been waiting to do for far too long now," He stopped walking at put his other arm around the her other side, pulling her into a passionate kiss. He slipped his tongue into her mouth, sneakily. The fact he had been worried about her was obvious. He held her like he would never be able to hold her again. Each kiss was so passionate and intense, it was though each one would be their last.

Backing her up onto the wall, he smiled smugly, before moving his lips down to her neck, plaving chaste kisses along her jaw line. He began to trace his hand over her body, as she felt his arousal against her leg.

"Fred," She moaned into his hair, which her hands were clenching. All her worries of the past 24hours had been forgotten, all she could think of was Fred and how much she wanted him. Just then, he slipped a hand up her shirt, delicately tracing patterns on her stomach with his fingers. The concentration on her stomach was enough to bring Ella crashing back down to reality. She hastily pushed him away, making sure to cover herself up.

"What's wrong?" Fred asked, seriously confused.

"I'm just not really in the mood, I guess," She said, walking away briskly. Although she knew she wasn't big enough for him to really notice, certainly not by sight, she didn't want to risk it. If she did decide to speak to Fred, as McGonagall had advised, then she wanted it to be on her terms, not because he was getting curious as to why her stomach kept growing. She dashed up to the Gryffindor tower, Fred hot on her tail, where she ascended up the girl's dormitory stairs immediately upon arrival.

Both Lee Jordan and George had been sat in the common room when Ella had come storming through, closely followed by Fred.

"What was that about?" Lee asked, bemused.

"I haven't got a clue," He slumped into the chair next to his twin and his best friend, releasing a loud sigh, "one minute were making out, and pretty heavily might I add," He added with a slight smirk, "but then she just went all weird, pushed me off of her and stormed off up here."

"Girls and their hormones, eh?" George teased his twin.

"I think it might be something more serious, we need to talk but at this rate I'll have to lock her in a room and confiscate her wand to get a word out of her!" He declared, frustrated.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Over a week had passed, it was now Monday, and Ella and Fred had still barely exchanged two words. The pair had been going to lessons like normal but Ella refused to say a word if she didn't have to, leaving Fred completely bewildered to what on earth he could have possibly done.

One afternoon, the pair had double potions together, and thanks to George and Angelina's still blossoming relationship, they were forced to become lab partners.

"Problem, Potter?" Snap sneered in passing with a wry smirk, in response to Ella moving her books and her seat significantly further down the bench as Fred came to join her. She turned her nose up in the air as Fred got closer.

Snape stood at the front of the class, asking for silence, and begin to dictate some notes for the students to copy down.

"What is wrong with you?" Fred snapped quietly, as she backed further away when he had lent over to dip his quill in her ink. The way she had been ignoring him had been diving him insane. It had him question what their relationship even was to her. He knew she didn't want anything serious, and that she was in it for a bit of fun but he seriously didn't have the patience for her games.

"Nothing," She hissed back.

"Then why won't you talk or even look at me!" He demanded furiously.

"Miss Potter, Mr Weasley 10 points from Gryffindor and if you don't want to spend your evening scrubbing this classroom's floor without magic, then I seriously suggest you shut up and pay attention," Snape barked from the front. Both students nodded and put their heads down, momentarily.

"I just don't understand what I've done," Fred hissed harshly as Snape began to drone on again.

"Will you just drop it," Ella hissed back.

"No, not until I know what in Merlin's name I'm meant to have done," He announced, forgetting to be quiet.

"That's it, Miss Potter and Mr Weasley, I will see you hear at 8 o'clock Friday night, after dinner, where you will scrub every inch of this floor the muggle way," Snape smirked smugly at catching out two of his most disliked students.

"Yes sir," They both said in unison. Ella reached over and gave his shin a hard kick before returning to her work, as though she hadn't done a thing, as he yelped in pain. The pair just glared at each other before turning their attention to lesson at hand.

"Oi, Ella," Ella turned to find Angelina jogging towards her, calling out her name. Ella greeted her friend and the pair began to walk out the great hall, after dinner, together. "So what's happening with you and Fred?" Angelina asked, getting straight to the point.

"That's a good question," Ella mumbled.

"Well, from what George told me, he's still mad about you but he thinks you're not interested anymore. Aren't you?" Ella spun around full force to face her friend, abruptly stopping walking.

"Well, I'm sorry but George obviously doesn't know the ins and outs of whatever the hell is going on between Fred and me!" She snapped, her eyes glinting dangerously. Angelina pulled the pair of them into an empty classroom.

"Calm down, Ella." Angelina approached with a softer tone. "I didn't mean any offence, you know that right? I'm just worried about you. I'm saying this as your best friend here, but you've been acting odd recently. I don't know, it's just recently you've not been joining in with any conversations, you ignore most of us the majority of the time and you've gone from the warm, friendly, funny girl we all love to a cold, ignorant stranger I can barely recognise." Angelina held her breath, knowing she had probably pushed her, already irritable, friend too far. Too her upmost surprise Ella just broke down crying, leaning against the wall for support. Ella couldn't help it. She felt ridiculous, she always used to be so strong and all she seemed to be doing at the minute was balling like a big baby.

"I'm so sorry," Angelina wrapped her arms around her friend and pulled her into her chest like a small child, "please tell me what's wrong," She begged.

At first Ella just shook her head repeatedly, pulling away from Angelina, keeping her eyes strictly on the floor.

"I can't," She murmured, trying to pull herself together.

"Yes, you can," Angelina persisted, resting a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I'm pregnant," Ella blurted out before she could stop herself. Angelina's mouth hung open in shock at this revelation.

"H…How long have you known?" She stuttered out, recomposing herself.

"I had a feeling for a while, but Madame Pomfrey confirmed it when I was in the hospital wing last week," She admitted. She loved her best friend for so many reasons, but one of the main ones was definitely how easy she was to talk to and how trust worthy she was.

"And I'm guessing Fred doesn't know?" Ella just shook her head in response.

"I can't tell him, not yet. I need to know what I want to do," She admitted. Everything suddenly clicked into place for Angelina. Her friend's sudden change in personality, her coldness to everyone and especially to her boyfriend. The poor girl had an awfully huge decision hanging over her, and she understood why she felt she couldn't tell Fred; he would want to keep it.

"It's fine, I'm always here if you need to talk," She comforted her, rubbing her on the back soothingly.

That night, Ella stayed up late, unable to sleep, flicking through the pages of her transfiguration textbook. She wasn't paying very much attention to what she was reading as she kept thinking about what both her friend and her professor had told her. She knew she would regret it if she never spoke to Fred but how _do_ you tell your boyfriend that you're currently barely talking to, that's he could be a father but you're not sure whether you want to keep it yet.

A tapping at the window pulled her out of the thoughts. She opened the window, letting a small smokey coloured owl fly in the room, gracefully landing on the back of the chair she had been sat on, holding out its leg, for her to untie the letter tied to it. She recognised the writing on the front immediately.

_Ella,_

_I heard about the second task from Harry. How are you? And I want the true answer, as I won't take a casual 'I'm fine' as an acceptable answer. You really had me scared. _

_Anyway, I've been talking to Dumbledore and he's pushing for you to sign your agreement of a legal guardian to make your transferral permanent. I thought you ought to meet Remus as he is your godfather, after all. We'll see you 9 o'clock sharp, in the shrieking shack on Wednesday. Ask your brother to show you how to enter safely, if he hasn't already. From what Harry's been saying, I think we need to talk. _

_Take care, _

_Padfoot_

Ella knew exactly what her brother had been writing to his godfather about. He, most likely, will have been worried about her, as he was another person on a long list of people she'd been avoiding. She sat to write a reply, smiling at the thought that she was going to meet another of her parent's best friends, and her godfather. Despite her current situation, she couldn't help but smile as she thought of her growing family which she didn't even know mere months ago.

_Padfoot,_

_I would only expect as much from you. I'm getting better, honestly, but I'll speak to properly on Wednesday. I can't wait to see you again and to meet Remus. Make sure you don't go getting yourself in any trouble,_

_Ella_

She attached the letter to the owl's leg once again, feeding it a treat before opening the window and letting it go and find the recipient.

* * *

Meanwhile, Fred sat in his room with his twin, pacing up and down. The stress of Ella not speaking to him for any apparent reason was getting to him...badly. If someone had told him he would feel physically sick with worry over his over a girl 6 months ago, he would have laughed in their face and told them where to go. Yet, here he was, doing exactly that.

"Mate, your making me dizzy," George teased his twin as he lay on his own bed, his hands behind his head.

"It's bad enough that she's been avoiding me, but the way she spoke to me. You should have heard it, Georgie, it was like we were enemies," He flung himself onto his own bed in frustration.

"Oh, it's about _her _again," George rolled his eyes in jest, "You need to speak to her, 'cause quite frankly you're driving yourself, and me, insane,"

"It would help if she didn't walk off every time I tried," He said defeated.

"Pull yourself together!" George threw a pillow at his twin, "You're Fred fricking Weasley! You can have almost any girl you want in this school. Where's your wit and charm gone?" He saw his twin's face grow even more solemn at his outburst, and got up and made his way over to Fred's sat on the end of it "Look mate I don't mean to be harsh,"

"I know you don't, and you have a point, but I just can't get her out of my head. We're really bad for each other, we fight and argue more than we don't at the minute, but somehow, it all just feels so _right_ with her," Fred rambled, "I sound crazy don't I?"

"Yep," George replied, popping the 'p', "but strangely enough; it makes sense. You need to confront her on Friday in your detention and DON'T take no for an answer. You're a Weasley twin, you can do it! Plus, it's hardly like she can just walk out of a detention is it?"

Fred knew his brother had a point. He thanked him, before they both burst into fits of laughter at how soppy their conversation had become. They sat for a while talking about quidditch until George felt his eye lids growing heavy, at which point he went back to his own bed and both twins drifted into a deep sleep.


End file.
